THE Malaysian Medical Association (MMA) has reminded all political coalitions contesting in the forthcoming 15th General Election (GE15) that they have a duty and responsibility to deliver on promises made in their manifestos and during their campaigning if they are voted in as the new government.
“We hope these promises will not be conveniently forgotten once the coalition elected is given the power,” said MMA president Dr Muruga Raj Rajathurai.
“Some of the promises made for health include resolving the contract doctor issue – an issue which the new government will need political will to resolve as it will involves the intake of medical students, medical schools, the houseman training programme, contract system, long-term human resource planning and budgeting as well as creation of permanent posts.”
According to Dr Muruga, the new health minister should endeavour to resolve the issue within the first 90 days in office.
“Addressing the contract doctor issue needs to be given urgency because as many as 3,000 medical graduates (new doctors) will enter the public healthcare system each year. There are currently only 1,500 permanent positions given to contract doctors each year,” he noted.
He further pointed out that the public healthcare system is also facing shortages in manpower as can be seen in the overcrowding and long waiting time at government healthcare facilities.
“The new health minister will need to look into the planning of human resources and creation of posts while taking into account the number of years needed to train doctors and specialists. Specialists need more years in the system to be trained,” he remarked.
Touching on Budget 2023, Dr Muruga stressed that the federal budget will need to be tabled again and debated by MPs.
“We hope to see an increase in the allocations for health. Will the new government be bold enough and committed to healthcare reforms with an increase in its health budget to 5% of the nation’s GDP for 2023?” he asked.
“More importantly, there must be transparency in the management of healthcare allocations. We must keep up the momentum for reforms as the people are expecting improvements and even more so once GE15 concludes.” – Nov 18, 2022
