KUALA LUMPUR, August 12 — Bandar Kuching MP Dr Kelvin Yii today lent his support to a proposal for the government to import foreign nurses into Malaysia’s public health care system.
During his debate on the 13th Malaysia Plan (13MP) in the Dewan Rakyat, the DAP lawmaker highlighted the exodus of Malaysian nurses out of the country, noting that while Malaysia faces a shortage of doctors, “actually we have a bigger shortage of nurses.”
He said while increased training of nurses, nursing programmes, and nursing scholarships could be medium-term or long-term solutions, the “acute” shortage of nurses must be resolved today.
Dr Yii, who is also a special officer to Human Resources Minister Steven Sim, related how he previously met the Association of Private Hospitals Malaysia (APHM) to enable the recruitment of foreign nurses for private hospitals.
“There are many beautiful private hospital buildings, but many wards can’t be opened because there are no nurses,” Dr Yii told the Dewan Rakyat.
“At that time, I asked whether general or government hospitals would also have to prepare to recruit or hire foreign nurses in this country. So I would like to ask what the Ministry of Health’s (MOH) stance is? Are they prepared to change policies and procedures?
“I believe that perhaps it’s time for us to hire nurses from overseas to resolve the acute shortage that we’re facing now.”
In a post on X yesterday, Health Minister Dzulkefly Ahmad welcomed a study by the Public Service Department (JPA) on importing Indonesian nurses to address nursing shortages in the public health service that he characterised as “self-inflicted”.
Many people, across Facebook and X, have condemned Dzulkefly, as some questioned why the government couldn’t increase the salaries or improve the working conditions of local nurses instead of hiring foreign nurses.
Johor State Health and Environment Committee chairman Ling Tian Soon reportedly said Saturday that importing Indonesian nurses would not only help resolve problems in the public sector, but also in the private sector.
