If you were to compare Malaysia’s healthcare scorecard with that of other countries’, how do you think we’d do? I got answers to that question when I came across a World Health Organisation (WHO) report, World Health Statistics 2017. It lists data on key health-related development goals for all countries.

On many issues, we’re not doing too badly. But one figure caught me by surprise: the amount of money that Malaysia spends on healthcare, as a percentage of total government expenditure. It is a mere 6%.