The National House Health Expenditure Survey 1996 (NHHES96) was conceived as a project to obtain some information and understanding of what was an important source of health financing – the expenditure incurred “out of their own pockets” by the population of Malaysia for the purpose of maintaining their health or treating their illness. Other sources of health financing were the portion of the national budget allocated to “health”, medical and health benefits provided by employers as part of a worker’s remuneration package, and health insurance.

It was felt that there was a breath of data and information about this source of health financing and in view of policies to streamline the operations of various government agencies by various means, it was necessary to understand the position and relative importance of this particular sector which contributes to the financing of health and health care.

Authors: Dr Atiya Abdul Sallam, Dr Htunn Myint Latt, Dr Hamidah Abd Karim, Dr Jason S.T. Teoh, Dr Nabillah Al-Sadat Abd Mohsein, Dr Raja Latifah Raja Jalalludin, Dr Soe Nyunt-U