The twenty-member editorial-cum-authors team that designed and produced this innovative and insightful view of health systems have an interesting mix of talents. They have professional backgrounds in public health, economics, social science, engineering, mathematics, systems thinking, medical sciences, and pharmaceuticals. Together, they combine insights gained during decades of personal experience of working in and managing national programmes in the Malaysian health system with a breadth of vision acquired through international public health work and the scientific rigour of academic publications. In delightful contrast to most publications in this field, the editors of this book guided active and iterative interaction between the authors, and between the authors and a wide range of Malaysian stakeholders. This process enriched and deepened the understanding of the workings of health systems.
The team consists of four categories, namely:
Editorial team. The editorial team designed the parameters of the book, guided the chapter authors, reviewed the chapters, and derived key messages for all chapters. Most members of the team also authored one or more chapters.
Lead authors for chapters.
Lead authors for case studies.
Co-authors for chapters or case studies.
Editorial Team cum Lead Authors for One or More Chapters
Jo. M. Martins
Professor (adjunct), International Medical University, Malaysia
Jo. M. Martins was a senior finance officer in a large corporation before entering public service in Australia. His work has included the design and implementation of community health services and the rationalisation of hospital services in Australia. He has been an advisor and consultant to the World Health Organization. He was a task manager for health projects for the World Bank, including the first World Bank–funded health project in Malaysia. He has held professorial positions and continues his association with university teaching and research in Australia and at the International Medical University in Malaysia. He is an assistant editor of the Asia Pacific Journal of Health Management and the author/editor of books, book chapters, peer reviewed articles, and official reports.
Indra Pathmanathan
Principal Visiting Fellow, International Institute of Global Health, United Nations University, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
ORCID ID: 0000–0003-4781–2199
Indra Pathmanathan has fifty years’ experience as a public health specialist. Working initially in Malaysia in academia, research, education of health personnel, and managing health programmes, she witnessed at first hand many of the key milestones cited in this book and took a lead role in establishing national programmes for health systems research and quality assurance. Her international experience includes consulting in health systems research for the World Health Organization, Geneva, to support programmes in several countries; serving in the World Bank, Washington, as team leader for reproductive health in the South Asia region; and evaluating health policies and programmes in Bangladesh, Ethiopia, and Sri Lanka. She has authored several books and peer-reviewed papers.
David Tat Ui Tan
United Nations Development Programme, Head of Experimentation
ORCID ID: 0000–0003-4820–2878
David Tan uses systems thinking for transdisciplinary research, organisational learning and development, and co-creation of narratives. He is currently with United Nations Development Programme Accelerator Labs, bringing innovation, learning, and safe-to-fail experiments to the development process. Prior to this, he was a health policy researcher at the United Nations University International Institute for Global Health studying health systems and the health-urban development interface.
Shiang Cheng Lim
Strategic Programme Manager and Monitoring, Research and Evaluation Lead, RTI International (Malaysia Office)
Shiang Cheng Lim is an applied researcher with more than fifteen years of research and programme experience in solving practical interdisciplinary problems in the field of global health, especially in areas related to sexual and reproductive health (SRH), abortion, HIV, gender-based violence (GBV), ageing, cognitive function and impairment, non-communicable diseases (NCDs), and health systems. Her research largely focuses on how complex contextual factors influence people’s health-related behaviour and decisions and how it can be improved through a multidimensional approach through health system strengthening, strategic partnership management, and participatory engagement.
Pascale Adukwei Allotey
Director, United Nations University, International Institute for Global Health (UNU-IIGH)
ORCID ID: 0000–0002-6942–5774
Pascale Allotey, as Director of UNU-IIGH, is interested in furthering the knowledge base in topics such as the application of systems thinking to improve understanding of health systems and increase the effectiveness of health policies globally. Her research over the last twenty-five years has focused on health equity, health and human rights, gender and social determinants of health, forced migration and marginalisation, sexual and reproductive health, infectious diseases, and non-communicable diseases. The engagement of communities in research and policy has been central to defining her areas of research. She has authored and edited several books and authored over 150 peer-reviewed articles.
Lead Authors for Other Chapters
David Christopher Ariam McCoy
Professor of Global Public Health and Director of the Centre for Global Public Health, Institute of Population Health Sciences, Queen Mary University of London
David McCoy is Professor of Global Public Health. He is Director of the Centre for Global Public Health in the Institute of Population Health Sciences at Queen Mary University of London. He qualified as a medical doctor from the University of Southampton and spent six years as a clinician in the UK and South Africa before entering a career in public health. Since returning to the UK, he has worked as a public health specialist in the NGO sector, academia, and the NHS.
Edward Barry Newell
Honorary Associate Professor, Fenner School of Environment and Society, the Australian National University, Canberra, Australia
Barry Newell is a physicist who focuses on the practical and theoretical aspects of policymaking in complex adaptive systems. He has a particular interest in the use of systems thinking to support effective cross-sector communication and adaptive policymaking in situations dominated by uncertainty. This work has led to the practical systems thinking and modelling approach called Collaborative Conceptual Modelling (CCM) that he has developed in collaboration with Katrina Proust. CCM is focused on putting systems thinking to work. He is co-author, with Robert Dyball, of the textbook Understanding Human Ecology: A Systems Approach to Sustainability.
Mukundan Sugunan Pillay
Managing Director, TSI Healthcare Sdn Bhd, Malaysia
Datuk Dr Mukundan Pillay is a civil engineer with additional qualifications (masters and doctorate) in public health. He was a pioneer public health engineer in the Ministry of Health, Malaysia, and had a key role in providing technical leadership for upgrading both rural and urban sanitation and water supply in the country. He became director of engineering services of the Ministry of Health Malaysia and then deputy director general of the ministry in charge of research and technical support. He was also a pioneer in contracting private sector entities to undertake functions previously confined to the public sector. He shared his experience internationally, serving as Senior Health Adviser with the WHO in Beijing and as Senior Health Specialist with the World Bank in Bahrain.
Chiu-Wan Ng
Professor of Public Health, University of Malaya, Malaysia
ORCID: 0000–0002-7687–2310
Chiu-Wan Ng graduated in Medicine from the National University of Singapore and obtained her MPH in Health Systems Management and her PhD in Health Economics from the University of Malaya. Her main research interests include health systems, financing, and economics, in particular efforts to achieve universal health coverage in low- and middle-income countries in the Asia Pacific region. She is the Malaysian country investigator for the EQUITAP (Equity in Asia Pacific Health Systems) and GNHE (Global Network on Health Equity) research collaborations.
Thomas Paraidathathu
Executive Dean and Professor, Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences, Taylor’s University, Malaysia
ORCID: 0000–0002-8834–9623
Thomas Paraidathathu is a pharmacist with an MS and a PhD in Pharmacology/Toxicology. Serving in the Ministry of Health, Malaysia, Thomas worked initially as a hospital pharmacist and later in drug regulatory affairs, where he gained first-hand experience in building national capacity to improve the safety of medical and traditional products marketed in the country. Subsequently as an academic, he built human resource capacity and is currently an emeritus professor. He has been a member of the Pharmacy Board of Malaysia, council member and vice president of the Malaysian Pharmaceutical Society, and a founding member of the Malaysian Academy of Pharmacy.
Nuraidah binti Mohd Marzuki
Public Health Physician, Health Informatics Section, Planning Division, Ministry of Health Malaysia, Putrajaya, Malaysia
Nuraidah Marzuki is a public health physician with the Health Informatics Centre, Ministry of Health, Malaysia. She has more than fifteen years of experience in government-led e-health initiatives. She previously served at the e-Health Section, Planning Division as Project Manager for the Malaysia Health Information Exchange (MyHIX). She received her MBBS and graduated with a Doctorate in Public Health from the University of Malaya.
Lead Authors for Case Studies
Kuan Joo Lim
Retired public health officer
Kuan Joo Lim is a medical officer with a post-graduate qualification in public health, MPH (health planning). He served in the Ministry of Health for twenty-nine years and has experience in hospital management (public and private sectors), health planning, hospital planning, healthcare financing, health information including IT, quality assurance, training, research and disease control, and medical ethics. He served as a short-time consultant to the World Health Organization and the Islamic Development Bank.
Debbie Siru
Consultant
Debbie Siru has extensive experience in the field of environmental health, primarily in the areas of drinking water quality and medical waste management. She has personal experience in building national capacity in medical waste management in the public and private sectors in Malaysia. She has an MSc in Water and Environmental Management from the University of Warwick, UK, and was the first person outside the US to obtain a Certificate in Healthcare Environmental Management from ECRI, USA. She has also been engaged by the World Health Organization on four separate occasions to provide consultancy on various aspects of environmental health.
Chee Han Lim
Senior Researcher, Third World Network
Chee Han Lim is a founding member of the Agora Society Malaysia, a senior researcher at the Third World Network, and formerly a senior analyst at the Penang Institute. He holds a PhD in Infection Biology from Hannover Medical School, Germany, an MSc in Immunology, and a BSc in Biotechnology from Imperial College London. Health and socio-economic policies are his current concerns. He believes that a nation can advance significantly if policymaking and research are taken seriously.
Other Contributors
Katrina Margaret Proust
Honorary Senior Lecturer, Fenner School of Environment and Society, the Australian National University
Katrina Proust has a background in environmental and applied history and complex social-ecological systems. Her work focuses on the historical factors and the feedback dynamics that shape relationships between humans and their environment. She is particularly interested in the interconnected systems that comprise urban communities. With Barry Newell she has developed Collaborative Conceptual Modelling, an approach to complex social-ecological issues that provides a conceptual framework to help a group undertake a systems project.
Safurah Jaafar
Professor of Community Medicine, International Medical University, Malaysia
ORCID ID: 0000–0001-6834–7885
Safurah Jaafar currently holds the position of Head of Division Family and Population Health and also Programme Director of the MBA in Healthcare Management at the International Medical University. She was instrumental in reforming PHC delivery in Malaysia, with an interest in safeguarding the equitable distribution of care in achieving universal health coverage, while serving the Ministry as Director, Family Health Development Division, Ministry of Health, Malaysia from 2007 to 2017.
Milton Siew Wah Lum
Consultant Obstetrician and Gynaecologist, Alpha Specialist Centre and Damansara Specialist Hospital, Petaling Jaya, Malaysia
Milton S. W. Lum, who studied at the Royal Military College and University of Malaya, is a Fellow of the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists, Royal Society of Medicine, and Academy of Medicine of Malaysia. He has held leadership positions at national and international medical and speciality organisations, membership of the boards of various hospitals, membership of the Council of University Tunku Abdul Rahman, and was previously FIGO Visiting Professor. He has served as an elected member of the Malaysian Medical Council since 1994 and is currently Chairman of the Board of Governors of Perdana University and Trustee of Nanyang Press Foundation.
Anuar Zaini bin Md. Zain
Professor of Internal Medicine, Jeffrey Cheah School of Medicine and Health Sciences, Monash University Malaysia
ORCID ID: 0000–0001-7007–5743
Dr Anuar Zaini is currently Professor of Internal Medicine and founding Head of Jeffrey Cheah School of Medicine and Health Sciences, Monash University Malaysia (2005–2017). He is also resident Consultant Endocrinologist at Beacon Hospital in Petaling Jaya. After graduating from the University of Malaya (UM) in 1973, he pursued training in clinical endocrinology at the Royal Victoria Infirmary, Newcastle-upon-Tyne, UK (1976–1978) and at Prince Henry Hospital and Monash Medical Research Centre, Melbourne (1983–1985). He was Dean of UM’s Medical Faculty for more than a decade (1986–2000) and also concurrent Director of the University Malaya Medical Centre during 1998–2000. He was appointed UM Vice-Chancellor, a post which he held from 2000 to 2003. He is a member of the Royal College of Physicians (UK) and a fellow of the Royal College of Physicians, Edinburgh, and of the Royal Australasian College of Physicians (Australia).
Fazilah binti Shaik Allaudin
Senior Deputy Director, Medical Care Quality Section, Medical Development Division, Ministry of Health, Malaysia
Dr Fazilah has had various roles in strategic leadership positions at the Ministry of Health in Malaysia. A significant portion of her career has been in digital health. Since 2010, she has been leading digital strategy for the national health system transformation agenda and involved in digital health and innovation strategies and implementation in both the public and the private sector. She has been actively pursuing e-health collaborations domestically, regionally, and internationally.
Tharani Loganathan
Medical Lecturer, Department of Social and Preventive Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, University of Malaya, Malaysia
ORCID ID: 0000–0001-6690-000X
Tharani Loganathan is a public health medical specialist and medical lecturer at the University of Malaya. She teaches undergraduate medical students and postgraduate MPH and DrPH students in Global Health, Law and Health, and Management and Health subjects in the Health Policy and Management Unit at the Department of Social and Preventive Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, University of Malaya. She has a particular research interest in migrant health and health systems and policy research on advancing the health system goal of achieving universal health coverage. Tharani Loganathan is an Atlantic Fellow for Health Equity in South East Asia.
Supathiratheavy Rasiah
Senior Lecturer, Community Medicine Department, School of Medicine, International Medical University, Malaysia
ORCID ID: 0000–0002-3451–5024
Supathira has worked with the Ministry of Health Malaysia, gaining expertise in the implementation and commissioning of EMR systems at various levels of hospitals, health facility planning and development, country health planning and evaluation, and telehealth project implementation. Her achievements also include improvements in health service delivery while serving as a hospital director at a 1,000-bed tertiary care hospital and a regional 400-bed secondary-level care hospital in Sabah, Malaysia. She is currently a senior lecturer at the International Medical University, involved in undergraduate and post-graduate programmes. Her research interests are in the fields of health informatics, improving care for type 2 diabetes mellitus, and trust in healthcare.
Faizul Nizam bin Abu Salim
Special Officer to the Director General of Health, Ministry of Health Malaysia; PhD student, Department of Community Health, National University of Malaysia
ORCID ID: 0000–0003-2827–8867
Dr Faizul Nizam Abu Salim has served as the Special Officer to the Director General of Health Malaysia since May 2016. Being directly involved in assisting the Director General in his governance role over the technical arm of Ministry of Health Malaysia, which cut across six different technical programmes and fifteen State Health Departments, Dr Faizul has amassed knowledge and experience of public health, health management, and leadership. Within this role he has developed a niche area of interest and expertise in strategic communication for health, especially in relation to crisis and risk communication. He is currently pursuing his PhD (Community Health) on this subject at the National University of Malaysia.
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