PETALING JAYA: The Health Ministry will find ways to enhance the incentives and allowances for all personnel posted to Sabah and Sarawak, says Datuk Seri Dr Dzulkefly Ahmad.
He also said that about 20% of the medical officers who have applied to be transferred from Sabah and Sarawak to the Peninsula states may have to stay in their current postings.
The Health Minister made this statement on Sunday (July 27) after launching the book titled “Crisis and Community: Covid-19 in Malaysia”, a compilation of essays on the Covid-19 crisis by people from all levels of society, edited by Bridget Welsh.
He asked the medical officers stationed in the Borneo States to “give it a chance," even if they are “reluctant at first."
It was reported that approximately 600 medical officers currently stationed in Sabah and Sarawak have applied for transfer to the Peninsula.
The Health Ministry said that this has caused difficulties in ensuring that public health services are sufficiently provided to the people in Sabah and Sarawak.
On July 24, the former chairman of the Malaysian Medical Association of Sabah branch, Dr Brandon Patrick, called for more doctors to be posted in Sabah and Sarawak, adding that incentives should be given to those posted to both states.
He expressed his support for the Sabah government’s proposal to provide an additional special allowance to doctors stationed in Sabah and Sarawak.
