Only those with chronic diseases are eligible for assistance under the RM10 million special allocation announced by the government last month, Terengganu Menteri Besar Ahmad Said said.

He said that ever since the government announced the allocation, patients had been coming forward to seek assistance under the scheme including those who were only suffering from minor illnesses.

"Many people misunderstand and take advantage of the allocation. Some even came to my office seeking assistance although they are only suffering from minor illnesses.

"The RM10 million allocation is only for those with chronic diseases such kidney failure, heart diseases or cancer," he told reporters after visiting a three-month-old girl, Khaulah Al-Azwar Amrun, who is suffering from hydrocephalus or accumulation of fluid in the head, in Kuala Terengganu today.

On Khaulah, Ahmad said, the state government was prepared to bear the cost of treatment if there were hospitals willing to take up the case.

Khaulah's mother Siti Norhayati Ahmad, 29, said the youngest of five siblings had undergone a surgery on Dec 21 at Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia Hospital.

She added that she needed RM2,000 each time she brought Khaulah for treatment to Kuala Lumpur.

Her husband Amrun Mamat, 52, a freelance photographer and trader, was now bed-ridden following a road accident last year, she said.

- Bernama