Latest news with #digitalreforms
Malay Mail
17-07-2025
- Health
- Malay Mail
Health minister touts AI health reforms as clinics cut wait times to under 30 minutes
KUALA LUMPUR, July 17 — A total of 156 health clinics have been equipped with a cloud-based content management system (CCMS), with 70 per cent of patients being treated in less than 30 minutes. In a post on Facebook yesterday, Health Minister Datuk Seri Dzulkefly Ahmad, said the achievement was part of the artificial intelligence (AI)-based digital reforms that his ministry is currently implementing. He said that under the reform, phase 1 of the Electronic Medical Record (EMR) system had also been completed involving five million prescriptions, 20 million vaccination records, and one million dental records. He said MySejahtera has now developed into a preventive health gateway and a national digital gateway. 'We are also very pleased to announce that the Ministry of Health and Google are now exploring a strategic collaboration to use artificial intelligence to address the country's key health challenges. 'It is a major step towards making Malaysia the leader in AI-based digital health in the region,' he said. He said as the 2025 Asean Chair, Malaysia is committed to driving regional cooperation in health data governance, ethical use of AI and cross-border digital capacity building. Today, Dzulkefly officiated the Precision Public Health Asia 2025 Conference which brought together over 500 delegates from across the region, eight technology exhibitors, and regional health leaders who share the aspiration of building a data-driven, personalised and people-centric health system. 'Precision Public Health is no longer a concept of the future. It is being implemented in Malaysia. And it will be a pillar for a more sustainable, equitable and competitive health system,' he said. — Bernama
The Independent
15-07-2025
- Business
- The Independent
Cryptocurrency could be part of future UK banking system
Bank of England governor Andrew Bailey has said that 'urgent' digital reforms of retail banking payments should be a priority. In his annual Mansion House dinner speech, Mr Bailey said the UK needs to 'harness the potential of digital technology for retail payments' both within Britain and internationally to help future-proof payments infrastructure and ensure it can play its part in boosting growth in the UK. But he added a dose of scepticism over any plans for a digital pound. While he reiterated concerns over so-called stablecoins (a type of cryptocurrency which is backed by a traditional asset such as a currency or commodity), he said there 'may well be a role' for them in the future. Mr Bailey said: 'There is an urgent need for innovation now in the area of payments, and the opportunity is there, no doubt about that.' He said the Bank would collaborate with authorities and industry to 'design and deliver the next generation of UK retail payments infrastructure'. 'This must be a priority, both to replace ageing infrastructure and as part of promoting growth in the UK,' he said, echoing financial services reforms outlined by Chancellor Rachel Reeves on Tuesday to help boost the economy. Mr Bailey added: 'There may well be a role for stablecoins going forward, but I don't see them as a substitute for commercial bank money. 'Moreover, our job will be to ensure that those stablecoins that purport to be money are safe. 'Perhaps there may also be a role for retail central bank digital currency, but I remain to be convinced why the natural next step is to create a new form of money rather than put digital technology into retail payments and bank accounts.' His comments follow just days after he warned global banking giants against issuing their own stablecoins, which he said threaten to take money out of the banking system and therefore leave less available for lending. Mr Bailey has also appeared to be increasingly cooling on the idea of a digital pound in recent months, raising doubts over whether it would ever be officially launched. In his speech, Mr Bailey cautioned over the ongoing impact of the global trade war, with the current shift in policy marking the 'most sudden and fundamental in the post-war era'. 'The shifts we have witnessed – and continue to witness – mark a generational change in the system of trade amongst nations,' he said. 'Increasing tariffs creates the risk of fragmenting the world economy, and thereby reducing activity,' he said. 'Recent events have exposed fault lines in the multilateral system of relations between nations, including in the global trading system,' he added. He said the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the Word Trade Organisation (WTO) can both work together and play a part in cooling the current trade war by helping 'achieve agreement amongst its members on the global rules of the road and how they are adhered to'. But he stressed he cannot 'underestimate the challenges' in addressing the current trade tensions.
