KOTA KINABALU: Sabah recorded the highest under-five and maternal mortality rates in the country, raising serious concerns over the state’s overstretched healthcare system.
Warisan's Calvin Chong said data from the Health Ministry showed Sabah’s under-five mortality rate stood at 21.8 deaths per 1,000 live births in 2024, about 2.5 times the national average, while the maternal mortality ratio reached 36.6 per 100,000 live births in 2023, the highest nationwide.
“These are not just statistics. These are lives lost, and they reflect a serious failure in Sabah’s healthcare system,” the Elopura assemblyman said during the Sabah Budget 2026 debate on Monday (Dec 15).
Chong said the crisis was compounded by severe manpower shortages, with Sabah recording a doctor-to-patient ratio of about 1:800, far below the World Health Organisation benchmark of 1:200 and worse than 1:400 in Peninsular Malaysia.
“This level of shortage places enormous pressure on doctors and directly affects patient safety,” he said.
He said Sabah also lags behind in basic healthcare infrastructure, with only 95 government health clinics, compared with 194 in Sarawak.
Chong said the impact was particularly acute in the Sandakan zone, which also includes the surrounding districts of Beluran, Kinabatangan, Telupid, and Tongod, with only three hospitals, including Hospital Duchess of Kent, 14 health clinics, and 13 rural clinics, despite serving a dense population.
“The result is severe congestion, long waiting times, and patients being forced to travel long distances for treatment,” he said.
He highlighted staffing pressures in hospitals, saying some wards operate with only three or four nurses per shift, resulting in nurse-to-patient ratios of up to 1:10.
“Nurses are overstretched. They are not only providing care but are also burdened with administrative work due to outdated systems, which increases risks to patient safety,” he said.
Chong questioned whether the RM173.56mil allocation for the Sabah Women, Health and Community Wellbeing Development Ministry was sufficient to address what he described as a healthcare crisis.
“When the situation is this critical, the budget must reflect that urgency,” he stressed.
