Subramaniam Sathasivam

Tan Sri Dr. S. '''Subramaniam s/o.

K. V. Sathasivam''' (சுப்ரமணியம்; born 1 April 1953) is a Malaysian politician who served as Minister of Health from May 2013 to May 2018, Minister of Human Resources from March 2008 to May 2013, Parliamentary Secretary in the Ministry of Housing and Local Government from 2004 to 2008 and Member of Parliament (MP) for Segamat from March 2004 to May 2018.

Subramaniam was born on 1 April 1953 to Sathasivam, an assistant registrar of trade unions.

He received his early education at the Penang Free School.

He graduated with a Bachelor of Medicine and Bachelor of Surgery degree from the National University of Singapore (NUS) in 1978.

Upon graduation from the NUS, Subramaniam immediately returned to Malaysia to serve in the Ministry of Health at the District Hospital in Taiping, Perak.

Like so many others who toil in public service, he too did his rounds moving from Taiping, Perak to Tangkak in Johor and then Malacca, where he finally settled into his own private practice in 1985.

Subramaniam is a trained and accomplished dermatologist.

His leadership in the medical community is also reflected by his election as the President of the Malacca Branch of the Malaysian Medical Association (1992 to 1994).

Subramaniam is married to Dr. S. Umarani.

He furthered his medical practice with a focus on Dermatology, firstly obtaining the Diploma in Dermatology (with distinction) from the University of Wales (UK) in 1994 and Membership of the Royal College of Physicians (MRCP) in Ireland in 1998.

He was one of the only two ministers of Indian ethnicity and one of only three MIC candidates who managed to retain their federal seats in the 2008 general elections.

He is a member and served as 9th President of the Malaysian Indian Congress (MIC), a component party of the ruling Barisan Nasional (BN) coalition, in acting capacity from June 2013 to June 2015 and in official capacity from June 2015 to July 2018.

After the 2013 election, Subramaniam became the Minister for Health.

This brings him back to the Ministry where he first served as a house officer, nominating preventive health and public awareness of health issues as priorities.

Since his appointment as Minister of Health, he has tirelessly crossed the country and indeed the world, to formulate a health transformation plan to address the country's challenges and needs.

He is cognizant of the many health issues that affect nations in transition.

His focus is mainly on increasing public awareness on health issues, especially early detection and prevention of diseases).

Over the years since he was appointed as Health Minister, he has shown his tremendous support in oral health in Malaysia particularly in highlighting the importance of integrating oral health promotion into the general health.

His countless contributions in supporting many oral health related events locally and internationally were highly respected among the dental fraternity.

Subramaniam has always give his best to endure the ministry's good, healthy relations with the health professional groups so that the close cooperation would contribute to improved health levels in Malaysia.

As a medical doctor for almost 30 years before, Subramaniam had vast experience in the medical field and related issues.

With his excellent leadership and exceptional orator skills, he will certainly lead the Ministry of Health to greater heights as well as attain its cherished vision of a nation working together for better health.

Subramaniam has done so many events and projects over the years.

Based on National Blood Center data, in 2016, a total of 693608 blood bags were received by transfusion medical services, of which 68.1% were blood donated and the rest (31.9%) were new blood donors.

The Honorable also urges those who have never donated blood to participate and become blood donor replacements.

The projection showed a significant increase of 30% among women who came forward to donate blood and this was a positive sign.

He also recounted the Whole Malaysian Stock Exchange or "Blood Stock System" that serves to manage blood stocks and identify areas where blood stocks are scarce so stocks from other centers can be channeled to areas where there is a need.

By monitoring this center, blood stocks in Malaysia will always be enough to meet the needs of the population.

One of that is the National Level Blood Donation Day Celebration and Celebration Night 2017.

The Minister of Health took advantage of the Health Ministry and the Malaysian government to thank the blood donors who had volunteered repeatedly for their sacrifices to assist in fulfilling the agenda of the National Blood Center.

Honestly, in Malaysia, blood donation is 100% voluntarily without expecting any reward.

He also appreciate certain parties such as the National Armed Forces who became a strong reserve and also women who are now actively involved in blood donation activities.

The International Medical Device Conference 2017 was officiated by Subramaniam.

This conference was to provide a forum for global medical devices regulators, healthcare institutions, healthcare service providers, research institutes, conformity assessment bodies, training bodies, medical device testing laboratories and stakeholders to discuss and share experiences on regulations and quality and safety of medical device.

The purpose of this Forum is to provide a platform for regulators and stakeholders of the medical device industry worldwide to meet and be updated on current affairs pertaining to the medical device industry.

Subramaniam has also involved as one of the speaker in dialogue session during the conference addressing questions and involve in the discussion among the speakers and industry leaders.

Subramaniam has taken the initiative to raise awareness and skills of Malaysians on healthy eating habits and thereby reducing the risk of non-communicable diseases related to nutrition.

He has organized a Malaysian Healthy Plate with a "Semi-Quarter".

The concept of "Quarterly Tribes" is so easy to understand, that the plate portion of a plate is filled with carbohydrate sources such as rice or bread; Quarter dishes are filled with protein sources such as fish, chicken, meat and legumes while half dishes are filled with fruit and vegetables.