The Ministry of Health has spent more than $315,000 to send patients for overseas treatment.
Last year they had assisted 33 patients in accessing overseas treatment which included those in urgent need of high risk cardiac surgeries.
The Ministry says a total of $160,000 was also spent to support the treatments for the Coronary Artery Bypass Graft cases while a total of 32 patients were assisted in open heart surgeries performed by overseas surgeons.
They also assisted more than 15 children in the last six months who were treated at the Shriners Hospital for Children in Hawaii.
Minister for Health Rosy Akbar has also highlighted the financial burden brought by non-communicable diseases.
The ministry’s statistics reveal that from 2014 to 2016, a total of 1,869 amputations were carried out.
Out of these, 835 were females and 1,034 were males who had lower limb amputations.
