Ministries to draw up joint Cabinet memo on parallel pathway programme

PUTRAJAYA: A memorandum on an amendment Bill related to the parallel pathway programme will be presented to the Cabinet soon, says government spokesman Fahmi Fadzil.

The Communications Minister said the memorandum is likely to be jointly issued by the Health and Higher Education Ministries, or by each ministry individually, "within one to two weeks".

“If everything goes well, (the Bill) will be tabled in the upcoming Parliament meeting or later,” he told reporters during his weekly press conference on Wednesday (June 5).

Fahmi also said the Bill to be tabled would hep resolve the parallel pathway issue involving two authorities – the Malaysian Qualifications Agency (MQA) and the Malaysian Medical Council (MMC).

“The issue is between the two agencies. If we bring the amendment to Parliament, it will help to resolve the matter. We have to wait for the Bill to be tabled,” he added.

On May 27, Health Minister Datuk Seri Dr Dzulkefly Ahmad said the Medical Act 1971 will be amended to resolve issues related to the parallel pathway programme.

In March, Dr Dzulkefly told the Dewan Rakyat that only 14 cardiothoracic surgeons were working under his ministry.

The Star reported in March that the shortage of cardiothoracic surgeons has left some 1,500 heart and lung disease patients in government hospitals in dire straits.

Some of the above cardiothoracic surgeons will also be retiring soon.

Malaysian graduates sent by the government to study cardiothoracic surgery at the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh are unable to practise in Malaysia as their qualifications are not accepted by the MMC. In response, the MMC said it had never recognised the RCSEd programme.