KUCHING, June 29 -- The Federation of Private Medical Practitioners' Associations, Malaysia (FPMPAM) has proposed for the government to fully exempt primary care services for foreign workers from the Sales and Services Tax (SST).

FPMPAM president Dr Shanmuganathan Ganeson said that as an alternative, the government could implement a temporary moratorium on the tax to allow time to explore a fair and sustainable healthcare financing mechanism.

"We have formally submitted an appeal to the Ministry of Finance (MoF), urging an urgent exemption from the upcoming six per cent SST on primary healthcare services provided to foreign workers, scheduled to take effect on July 1," he said in a statement.

Dr Shanmuganathan said although the Foreign...