KUALA LUMPUR, April 1 – The Ministry of Health (MOH) will require an additional 4,000 medical officers and 628 pharmacists between 2022 and 2025, Khairy Jamaluddin said.
The health minister said MOH projects a need for 63,040 medical officers by 2025, a 6.8 per cent increase from 59,040 medical officers in 2021, and 15,760 pharmacists by 2025, up 4.2 per cent from 15,132 pharmacy officers recorded in 2021.
The projection takes into account that 70 per cent of the burden on the health system is borne by the civil service, Khairy said.
He said contract appointments for medical officers are made every two months at MOH, while contract appointments for pharmacists are conducted every four months.
“The MOH has the capacity to appoint between 4,000 and 6,000 medical graduates on a contract basis each year, and appoint 500 to 1,000 contract pharmacists annually,” Khairy told Senator Mohd Apandi Mohamad in a written Dewan Negara reply last March 22.
Khairy said the government, as stipulated in the Medical Act 1971 and the Registration of Pharmacists Act 1951, has an obligation to provide placements for graduate training and/ or compulsory service.
To fulfil this obligation, the government introduced contract appointments in 2016, which has only managed to absorb 1,118 medical officers, 1,019 dental officers, and 1,288 pharmacy officers to permanent roles, throughout its implementation up until 2021.
MOH has since announced the creation of at least 11,296 permanent positions for medical, dental, and pharmacy officers from 2022 until 2025.
