I view with deep concern an internal circular issued by the Ministry of Health (MOH) secretary-general on May 25, 2026, which outlines aggressive operational expenditure cuts and freezes.
In particular, the directive implementing a salary freeze on unfilled positions (under budget codes OS11000/OA10000) and halting the creation of new necessary staffing positions is a catastrophic step in the wrong direction for our public health care system.
I strongly urge the Ministry of Finance (MOF) and the MOH to immediately withdraw this austerity directive. Our public hospitals are already facing an acute manpower crisis, with widespread vacancies among doctors, nurses, and medical support staff.
Capping recruitment and freezing allocations for existing vacancies will not achieve “savings”—it will only accelerate the systemic collapse of public health care delivery and push our frontliners over the edge.
The federal government’s justification that these cuts are required to offset escalating subsidy costs must not be executed at the expense of human lives and essential public welfare. While fiscal prudence is necessary, a blanket freeze on health care recruitment is short-sighted.
Instead of freezing recruitment, MOF and MOH must move in the exact opposite direction. The ministries need to mandate and fund all necessary measures to aggressively fill every doctor and nurse vacancy across the country as a matter of national urgency.
Leaving positions empty places an unsustainable burden on our remaining medical workforce. We are already witnessing alarming levels of burnout, physical exhaustion, and mental strain among public hospital staff. Forcing them to work under even tighter constraints, while strictly capping overtime allowance claims (ELM), is unsustainable and unjust.
Furthermore, this directive contradicts the government’s own infrastructure milestones. We have successfully fought for and secured critical public health care projects, such as the newly finalised 500-bed Petaling Jaya Public Hospital site.
Public health care is a fundamental right, not a corporate expense sheet to be trimmed down during inflation. I call upon the Minister of Finance and the Minister of Health to prioritise the well-being of both our citizens and our health care workers.
Withdraw the hiring freeze, release the frozen salary allocations for vacant posts, and commit to fully staffing our public hospitals immediately.
The author is Bukit Gasing state assemblyman and founding chairman of Social Democracy Malaysia (SocDem Malaysia).
- This is the personal opinion of the writer or publication and does not necessarily represent the views of CodeBlue.
