KUCHING: It is unfair to Sarawak and Sabah for the Federal Health Ministry to project on the oversupply of medical practitioners given the reality of the healthcare situation on the ground.
Former Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department (Parliament and Law), Tan Sri Dr Wan Junaidi Tuanku Jaafar said the two states still require medical officers to serve the rural population.
“If we go to rural hospitals in Sarawak and Sabah, there are still many district hospitals that are without specialists or even doctors. We should not look at large private or government hospitals in Kuala Lumpur only and use it as a ratio for the whole country.
“This is not based on reality. Sarawak has a large population who are still living in rural areas for several reasons. If we base the ratio of doctors, surgeons and specialists to the 32 million Malaysia population, maybe it is high, but that is not the case in rural areas.
“It is unfair to the people of Sarawak and Sabah,” he told New Sarawak Tribune in a telephone interview today.
Wan Junaidi said the findings from the study are not representative of the true situation in Sarawak and Sabah as the healthcare facilities in the two states are less accessible compared to that of in West Malaysia.
“In West Malaysia, the distance between a hospital to another hospital may not be too far apart but in Sarawak, it is quite far.
“We need to evaluate this further as Sarawak cannot be compared to rural Semenanjung and the whole country,” he said.
The former minister was commenting on reports of a projection by the Health Ministry of an oversupply of medical officers from 2026 to 2023 based on a study conducted.
In a written parliamentary reply dated June 8, Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department (Sabah, Sarawak Affairs and Special Functions) Datuk Armizan Mohd Ali said the Public Service Department (JPA) stopped offering medical scholarships due to the study’s outcome.
Earlier, Sarawak Deputy Minister for Education, Innovation and Talent Development Datuk Dr Annuar Rapaee also questioned the projection, calling for a review taking into consideration the demand for healthcare services.
The Nangka assemblyman told a local daily that the Health Ministry ought to take into account the figures of doctor distribution in Sarawak.
“In Sarawak, there is such a significant different between urban and rural areas in terms of the doctor ratio. There are a lot more clinics in Sarawak without doctors,” he said.
