For over a decade, the government’s Ubat Melalui Pos (UMP), or Medicine Through Post, programme has enabled patients to receive their medications without having to make regular trips to healthcare facilities. With that in mind, the government will expand the programme nationwide while also absorbing delivery costs for patients who depend on the service.
Communications Minister Datuk Fahmi Fadzil said the initiative is a collaboration between the Ministry of Health (MOH) and the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC). Under the arrangement, the Ministry of Health (MOH) will determine eligible patients for the UMP programme, while Pos Malaysia will carry out medicine deliveries through an arrangement facilitated by the MCMC.
According to Fahmi, the initiative will be funded through federal government allocations, with annual costs estimated at RM5.69 million. He added that the move would help ease the burden on around 80,000 patients who rely on the service every month. He also hopes that the government will implement the initiative sometime in July for every state, preferably at the start of the month.
The PERSADA Initiative
It’s worth noting that Fahmi signed the memorandum of understanding (MoU) between the MOH and MCMC and witnessed the signing for the National Digital Health Ecosystem and Connectivity Catalyst (PERSADA) yesterday evening, 15 June 2026. The government is developing PERSADA as a RM650 million nationwide cloud-based clinical management system (CCMS) initiative to improve operational efficiency, strengthen doctor-patient care, and streamline the development of telehealth services in Malaysia.
The PERSADA initiative will also expand telehealth capabilities through the integration of the Malaysia Virtual Health Assistant System (MyVAS) and the National Information Dissemination Centre (NADI). The initiative aims to widen healthcare access, particularly in rural areas.
Health Minister Datuk Dr Dzulkefly Ahmad said the initiative could mark “the end of the era of manual records and paper-based legacy systems”. He added that the ministry is targeting 81% of patients to receive treatment within an hour under PERSADA. He further noted that a piloted CCMS platform would enable healthcare facilities nationwide to handle an additional capacity of between 75,000 and 300,000 patients per hour.
The government will implement the PERSADA project in two phases by 2028, covering 150 government hospitals and 2,488 public healthcare facilities nationwide. It estimates phase one of the plan to cost RM74 million. MCMC will channel and manage funding through the Universal Service Provision Fund (USP Fund).
(Source: Facebook, Bernama, New Straits Times)
