Sarawak To Have More Doctors To Offset Shortage - Liow
May 09, 2010 15:55 PM
KUCHING, May 9 (Bernama) -- Priority will be given to Sarawak to have more doctors as it is facing a 50 per cent doctors shortage, said Health Minister Datuk Seri Liow Tiong Lai.
He said Sarawak, which currently had only 600 doctors excluding private practitioners, needed at least 1,200 doctors.
The ministry is able to get about 3,300 trained doctors a year, of which 3,000 will serve government hospitals, he told reporters after launching a dental and oral hygiene campaign here on Sunday.
Liow said he was confident that newly trained doctors would not shy away from working in Sarawak, including in rural areas, as they would be entitled to various incentives.
He said Malaysia currently had about 25,000 doctors in public and private hospitals.
On oral and dental care, he said 252,558 pupils from 1,202 primary schools in Sarawak received dental and oral treatment last year.
He said almost 95 per cent of primary school pupils and 46,410 children from 1,456 kindergartens in the state were entitled to dental treatment.
"However, only five percent of primary school pupils have not received dental treatment as their schools are located in interior areas which are difficult to reach," he said.
-- BERNAMA
May 09, 2010 15:55 PM
KUCHING, May 9 (Bernama) -- Priority will be given to Sarawak to have more doctors as it is facing a 50 per cent doctors shortage, said Health Minister Datuk Seri Liow Tiong Lai.
He said Sarawak, which currently had only 600 doctors excluding private practitioners, needed at least 1,200 doctors.
The ministry is able to get about 3,300 trained doctors a year, of which 3,000 will serve government hospitals, he told reporters after launching a dental and oral hygiene campaign here on Sunday.
Liow said he was confident that newly trained doctors would not shy away from working in Sarawak, including in rural areas, as they would be entitled to various incentives.
He said Malaysia currently had about 25,000 doctors in public and private hospitals.
On oral and dental care, he said 252,558 pupils from 1,202 primary schools in Sarawak received dental and oral treatment last year.
He said almost 95 per cent of primary school pupils and 46,410 children from 1,456 kindergartens in the state were entitled to dental treatment.
"However, only five percent of primary school pupils have not received dental treatment as their schools are located in interior areas which are difficult to reach," he said.
-- BERNAMA
