The Health Ministry can verify overseas treatment letters from patients fundraising for medical treatment.
In Parliament, Health Minister Dr Atonio Lalabalavu reaffirmed this while responding to Opposition MP Premila Kumar who raised concerns about Health Ministry certified letters being circulated for months without any verification for the public that patients were seeking assistance from.
“If they do want to know if it is a genuine letter issued by the ministry, they will have to contact the ministry so we can clarify that,” said Dr Lalabalavu.
“However, in terms of the medical report, that is based on the request of the patient. They want a medical report, but anything to do with overseas referral, that is clearly articulated in the document that is given to the patient.
“The patient will then have to bring it to our Overseas Medical Referral Team at headquarters to ensure if they are eligible for assistance.”
He said the Overseas Medical Treatment Referral team decided on whether the patient would receive full or partial support.
“In terms of the finer details of the scheme and the required documents, medical report is required to be written by a local consultant or a specialist.
“If the medical report is from the registrar, it has to be approved by a consultant or a senior specialist.
“The medical report should have the problem list, history, primary diagnosis, final diagnosis of the patient, clearly state the type of treatment that the patient requires that is not available locally.”
