NGOs play an increasingly important and often unique role in healthcare. Many NGOs are patient support groups. They provide practical help to patients in the care and treatment of their illnesses, they help patients navigate our complex and fragmented health system, and uniquely they educate and support patients in coping with the emotional and social effects of their medical problems outside the formal health system. Some NGOs are even directly involved in the financing and delivery of specific health services, most famously the NKF and other NGOs which together provide dialysis services to about 8000 patients (25% of the 32,000 patients) in Malaysia.
The actions of individual patients, healthcare providers and NGOs however must occur within the ambit of the configuration and functioning of our health system (how health services in Malaysia
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