SABAH TOLD TO TAKE INITIATIVE TO HELP GOV'T TACKLE SHORTAGE OF DOCTORS

KOTA KINABALU, Nov 19 (Bernama) -- The Sabah government has been recommended to take the initiative to finance the studies of Sabahans interested in the field of medicine as an alternative to helping the Ministry of Health overcome the shortage of doctors in the state.

Datuk Dr Yusof Yacob (GRS-Sindumin) said Sabahans who complete their studies in that field can then be absorbed to fill the vacancies as Medical Officers.

"We provide scholarships so that we have enough doctors in Sabah. We hope the state government can arrange this programme (initiative) through the scholarship division with the Ministry of Health.

"In universities, we have this (medical) programme such as in UMS (Universiti Malaysia Sabah), we have this programme in UKM (Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia) and also in universities abroad,” he said during the debate on the Supply Bill (2025) 2024 (Sabah Budget 2025) at the Sabah State Legislative Assembly sitting here today.

Dr Yusof said a total of 620 specialist doctor positions are offered in Sabah but only 554 have been filled while only 1,951 out of the 2,375 Medical Officer positions have been filled.

Dr Yusof said Sabah will need 7,000 doctors to achieve the ratio of one doctor to 500 patients according to the World Health Organization (WHO).

In another development, Datuk Masiung Banah (GRS-Kuamut) proposed that the Sabah government and the Federal Government jointly introduce the 'Rahmah Ticket’ incentive for domestic flights between Peninsular Malaysia-Sabah-Labuan and Sarawak according to the people's needs.

He said the Ministry of Domestic Trade and Cost of Living (KPDN) should enforce the Price Control and Anti-Profiteering Act 2011 to take stern action against domestic airline companies which arbitrarily raised domestic flight ticket prices to make a profit without considering the people's cost of living.

"We also recommend that the KPDN and Ministry of Transport work together to set a floor price for domestic flight tickets, especially during peak periods involving school holiday seasons and festivals like Hari Raya, Christmas, Chinese New Year, Deepavali, Pesta Kaamatan (in Sabah) and Hari Gawai (in Sarawak),” he said.

Masiung, meanwhile, also asked the Sabah government to provide emergency assistance as compensation to oil palm farmers in rural areas who suffer physical losses due to encroachment by wild animals like elephants, besides crop damage due to natural disasters like major floods.

-- BERNAMA