The Ministry of Health Malaysia — Kementerian Kesihatan Malaysia (KKM), or MOH in English — is the federal ministry responsible for the country's health system: public health, medical care, medical research, health promotion, pharmaceutical and medical-device regulation, dental care and patient safety. It runs a tax-financed public network of 149 hospitals and nationwide clinics where an outpatient visit costs a nominal RM1, and it separately regulates private healthcare. It is headquartered at Complex E, Putrajaya, and led by the Minister of Health, Dzulkefly Ahmad.
- KKM is Malaysia's federal health ministry, headquartered at Complex E, Putrajaya; it is led by Minister of Health Dzulkefly Ahmad (since 12 December 2023).
- Datuk Dr Mahathar Abd Wahab became Director-General of Health effective 29 May 2025.
- The public sector runs 149 hospitals with 45,964 beds — about 71% of all hospital beds nationally — versus 212 private hospitals with 18,779 beds.
- Public outpatient visits cost a nominal RM1 including medication; the maximum billable in a third-class ward is RM500 inclusive of everything.
- Budget 2026 allocated RM46.5 billion to the ministry, up 2.8% from RM45.3 billion in Budget 2025 — the second-highest of any ministry after education.
Who this applies to: Patients and the public using government health services, private healthcare operators, health professionals, and anyone researching how Malaysia's health system is governed and financed.
On this page
When you walk into a Malaysian government clinic, hand over a RM1 note, and walk out with your consultation and your medicine covered, you are using one of the most heavily subsidised health systems in the world. Running it is the Ministry of Health Malaysia — Kementerian Kesihatan Malaysia (KKM), or MOH in English — the federal ministry responsible for public health, medical care, medical research, health promotion, pharmaceutical and medical-device regulation, dental care and patient safety. It is headquartered at Complex E (Blocks E1, E3, E6, E7 and E10) in the Federal Government Administrative Centre, 62590 Putrajaya.
Who runs the ministry?
KKM has the dual leadership structure common to Malaysian ministries — a political head and a top civil-service head.
| Role | Nature | Holder |
|---|---|---|
| Minister of Health | Political head | Datuk Seri Dr Dzulkefly Ahmad (since 12 December 2023) |
| Director-General of Health | Senior civil-service and technical head | Datuk Dr Mahathar Abd Wahab (effective 29 May 2025) |
The Director-General of Health (Ketua Pengarah Kesihatan) is the ministry’s chief technical and professional authority. Dr Mahathar succeeded Datuk Dr Muhammad Radzi Abu Hassan, who retired on 1 May 2025 after serving in the post since April 2023.
How big is the public system?
Malaysia runs a mixed system: a large, tax-funded public sector operated by KKM alongside a private sector. The public sector operates 149 public hospitals with 45,964 beds — about 71% of all hospital beds nationally — compared with 212 private hospitals and 18,779 private beds.
Demand has grown sharply. Patient arrivals at MOH facilities rose 18%, from 57.9 million in 2020 to 68.2 million in 2023. In 2023 the public sector recorded roughly 2.7 million hospital admissions and 19.6 million outpatient arrivals. Delivering that care is a workforce that, on figures reported in 2025, included around 32,558 medical officers, 8,515 specialist doctors, 69,801 nurses and 15,251 assistant medical officers.
How is public healthcare financed and priced?
The MOH system functions as a tax-financed, heavily subsidised national health service open to all Malaysians, with a policy aim of geographical access to a health facility within an average 5 km radius.
The prices are nominal. Public facilities charge only RM1 (about USD0.30), inclusive of medication, for an outpatient attendance. Even inpatient care is capped: the maximum billable in a third-class ward is RM500, inclusive of all procedures, medication, diagnostics and ward charges.
What does KKM regulate beyond its own hospitals?
Alongside running public facilities, KKM is the sector’s regulator. It administers the Private Healthcare Facilities and Services Act 1998 (Act 586), which sets minimum quality and safety standards for private healthcare facilities and includes a schedule capping the fees doctors may charge for procedures.
Its work is carried out through a range of agencies and bodies, including:
- the National Institutes of Health (NIH), with institutes for medical research, public health and health systems research;
- the Malaysian Health Promotion Board;
- the Medical Device Authority; and
- the Malaysia Healthcare Travel Council.
Where did the ministry come from?
Malaysia’s health institutions predate independence. The Institute for Medical Research (IMR) was established in 1900 to study tropical infectious diseases such as malaria and beriberi, and at independence in 1957 the country had just 65 hospitals.
For two periods (1956–1957 and 1960–1962) the ministry operated as the “Ministry of Health and Community Welfare”; its first minister in that form was Tun V. T. Sambanthan (1957–1959). From 1963 it took the name Ministry of Health under minister Abdul Rahman Talib.
What’s next
For official service information, facility directories and current leadership, the ministry’s portal is at moh.gov.my. Several figures above — clinic counts, the current fee schedule and the latest workforce total — should be confirmed against MOH’s own Health Facts and the relevant Fees Orders (see the verification notes); a later NegaraKu.md pass will wire this page to related topics on specific health laws and agencies.
How much does it cost to see a doctor at a government clinic?
Public health facilities charge a nominal RM1 (about USD0.30), inclusive of medication, for an outpatient attendance. The system is tax-financed and heavily subsidised; the maximum billable in a third-class hospital ward is RM500, inclusive of all procedures, medication, diagnostics and ward charges.
What is the difference between KKM and MOH?
They are the same body. KKM is the Malay acronym (Kementerian Kesihatan Malaysia); MOH is the English acronym (Ministry of Health). Both refer to the federal health ministry.
Does KKM run private hospitals?
No. KKM operates the public hospitals and clinics and separately regulates private healthcare under the Private Healthcare Facilities and Services Act 1998 (Act 586), which sets minimum quality and safety standards and caps the fees doctors may charge for procedures.
The following are deliberately unstated or described only qualitatively until confirmed by a subject-matter expert:
- Exact current number of Klinik Kesihatan and Community Clinics (KKom) — a snippet cited ~1,100 klinik kesihatan and 228 KKom as of 31 Dec 2023; confirm against MOH Health Facts 2023 (the official PDF returns HTTP 403 to automated fetch).
- Current Deputy Minister(s) of Health — confirm identity, spelling and number against the moh.gov.my staff directory.
- Total MOH workforce headcount — Wikipedia cites 267,578 (2020); confirm the latest official figure.
- Whether the RM1 outpatient fee and RM500 third-class ward cap are still current (the BMC case study is from 2012); confirm against the current Fees (Medical) Order under the Fees Act 1951.
- Formal establishment year of the ministry as a distinct federal ministry — reconcile the 1963 renaming against the continuity described from 1956–1962, using the official 'Brief History' page.
- Latest official counts of dental clinics and community/1Malaysia clinics from Health Facts.
- Life expectancy and doctor-to-population ratio from the latest MOH Health Facts / DOSM for context.
Sources
- Ministry of Health (Malaysia) — Wikipedia
- Dr Mahathar Abd Wahab appointed as Malaysia's new Director-General of Health — Cancer Matters (National Cancer Society Malaysia)
- Budget 2026: Health Spending Growth Slows, MOH Gets RM46.5 Bil — CodeBlue (Galen Centre)
- Budget 2025: Health Ministry gets second highest allocation at RM45.3bil — The Star
- Patient Arrivals In MOH Rose 18% From 2020 To 2023 — CodeBlue (Galen Centre)
- Financing Universal Coverage in Malaysia: a case study — BMC Public Health (PMC)
- Private Healthcare Facilities and Services Act 1998 (Act 586) — Ministry of Health Malaysia
- Sejarah Kementerian Kesihatan Malaysia (KKM) — MyWilayah (citing MOH brief history)
Change history
| Version | Date | Change | By |
|---|---|---|---|
| 01.00 | 14 Aug 2026 | Approved and published. | — |