KUALA LUMPUR, March 24 – Only 443 Malaysian health care experts – all professionals in administration like finance and hospital administration – have returned to Malaysia from overseas in the past 12 years.
Health Minister Dr Zaliha Mustafa, in a written parliamentary reply yesterday to Setiu MP Shaharizukirnain Abd Kadir, said the TalentCorp agency has received more than 10,000 applications since 2011 under the Returning Expert Programme (REP).
Of these, more than 6,000 were approved to return to Malaysia under the REP, “including 443 experts in the health care field, comprising professionals in administration like finance and hospital administration”.
The return of 443 health care administrators in a 12-year period amounts to just about 37 people returning to Malaysia annually on average.
The minister did not mention the return of any clinicians to Malaysia that is currently facing dire staff shortages of health care professionals, including medical officers and specialist doctors.
On a trip to the United Kingdom last January, Dr Zaliha met with Malaysian doctors currently serving in Britain, pleading with them to “return to your homeland and help us strengthen the health sector”.
The UK’s National Health Service (NHS) is undergoing a similar crisis like Malaysia’s public health service, with reported staff shortages, overwork, and low wages.
Junior doctors in the UK yesterday announced a second round of strike action in England from April 11 to 15, a 96-hour walkout, after failed negotiations with the government over their pay dispute. Thousands of junior doctors in England held a 72-hour strike earlier this month.
