By Yussof J. Imbang
KOTA KINABALU; The country’s health sector will face a difficult moment when it is expected to experience a shortage of more than 13,000 medical experts by 2030.
The problem of shortage of medical doctors in this country has gone beyond a serious level if there is no significant structuring of the professional career offer, according to the view of Beckbencers (BBC) Sabah Chairman, Datuk Masiung Banah.
According to him, the government, especially the Malaysian Ministry of Health (KKM), has no choice but to compete closely with the high service offerings of developed countries.
He urged the government to return to the system of offering permanent positions to government doctors, including specialist doctors, with a new salary offer that is more consistent.
He said the contract appointment offer is only suitable for medical doctors brought from abroad.
Masiung stressed that the country, especially the provinces of Sabah and Sarawak, had almost reached the target ratio of one doctor for every 400 population.
BIMB Securities Research analysts predict that Malaysia is expected to face a shortage of more than 13,000 medical specialists by 2030.
Yesterday, the Chairman of the Malaysian Medical Association (PPM) Sabah Branch, Dr Brandon Patrick Senagang, voiced concern regarding the critical issue of a shortage of doctors throughout Sabah.
“Local doctors and medical graduates in this country prefer to migrate abroad because they are less interested in the contractual service system offered by the Ministry of Health.
“In addition, the offer of good wages and higher foreign exchange rates in some developed countries also attracts their interest in migrating to other countries.
“I once shared the expression of Malaysian medical doctors serving in Singapore. They think that the doctor’s career has no future in this country after the Ministry of Health offers contract services with low value without work flexibility,” he explained.
According to Masiung, further promoting the rapid development of health infrastructure, including the construction of new hospitals, is seen as not being in line with the country’s ability to produce specialist personnel.
He said the effort to retain experienced nurses has also become increasingly conflicting due to the competition for job offers abroad, in addition to the competition for manpower between government and private hospitals.
The Chairman of the Sabah Economic Development Corporation (Sedco) Group hopes that the serious issue of shortage of doctors can be improved ahead of the presentation of the National Budget at the end of this year.
According to Masiung, Malaysia’s problem is not the lack of medical graduates but the lack of specialists and the challenge of retaining experienced nurses who are the backbone of government hospitals.
The Kuamut People’s Representative is expected to bring up the issue of the lack of medical experts in the country, especially in Sabah, at the Sabah State Legislative Assembly (DUN) meeting by the beginning of November.
