Sabah’s shortage of medical officers demands a stronger, faster, and more accountable response from the state’s leaders.
Behind every unfilled position are patients waiting for treatment, families travelling long distances for care, and health care workers carrying increasingly difficult workloads. The consequences reach far beyond hospital staffing charts.
Public health care is primarily a federal responsibility. But that division of responsibility does not absolve the Sabah government of its duty to act. The patients are Sabahans. The hospitals serve our communities. The consequences are felt in our homes.
Sarawak’s recent announcement raises an uncomfortable question: where is Sabah’s equally clear and measurable commitment?
On October 30, 2026, Sarawak announced a proposal for 80 fully state-sponsored medical study places for Sarawakian students at Universiti Malaysia Sarawak. The initiative still requires implementation, but it establishes a specific commitment towards developing local medical talent.
Sabah’s leaders should provide comparable clarity. How many future doctors will the state sponsor annually? How much funding will be allocated? Which institutions will participate? What specific arrangements will ensure that graduates return to Sabah and remain in the state to serve?
This is particularly critical given that only approximately 30 to 35 per cent of doctors serving in Sabah are local Sabahans. This low proportion highlights Sabah’s continued reliance on health care professionals recruited from outside the state.
Without a significant increase in the local production of doctors and specialists, Sabah risks remaining trapped in a cycle of chronic workforce shortages, high staff turnover, and persistent dependence on external recruitment.
Sabah already has scholarship mechanisms, including the Sabah State Government Scholarship and Yayasan Sabah assistance. However, strict merit-based selection, transparent governance and regular audits are essential to prevent political interference, favouritism, nepotism, and corruption.
Given the growing public concern over corruption and governance issues in Sabah, strengthening public accountability and transparency in scholarship allocation is essential to restore public confidence and ensure that these opportunities are awarded based on merit and genuine potential rather than personal connections or undue influence.
The Sabah government must first acknowledge an uncomfortable truth: doctors cannot be expected to stay in places where the basic necessities of life are not adequately provided.
How can the state expect doctors to serve in rural and remote districts when roads remain in poor condition, clean treated water is unreliable, electricity supply is unstable and internet connectivity is inadequate?
How can we expect doctors to bring their families to these locations when there are insufficient comfortable government quarters, transit accommodation or suitable housing?
These are not luxuries. They are basic requirements.
A doctor should not have to worry about whether there will be water when returning home after a long shift, whether electricity will remain available overnight, whether the road is safe for family members, or whether their children can access basic educational facilities.
Sabah Must Offer Meaningful Incentives, Not Just Appreciation
Beyond infrastructure and accommodation, the Sabah government must introduce a meaningful, state-funded special incentive for health care personnel serving throughout the state.
Sarawak has demonstrated that state governments can take additional initiatives to recognise and support federal health care personnel serving within their jurisdiction, including through annual financial assistance and special incentives.
Why should Sabah not pursue a comparable commitment?
If Sarawak can recognise the contribution of federal personnel through additional state-level financial assistance, Sabah should seriously examine a similar, sustainable annual incentive for doctors and other health care workers serving in Sabah.
Health is not an expense; it is an investment. An investment in health care workers is an investment in Sabah’s people, productivity and future.
If the Sabah government expects health care workers to remain and serve the state, it must be prepared to invest in making that decision worthwhile.
Support Health Care Workers And Educate The Public
The Sabah government must stand firmly behind its health care workforce. At the same time, it must take responsibility for educating the public.
Health care decisions cannot always be made to satisfy immediate public pressure or political popularity. Difficult operational decisions, service reorganisations and resource limitations must be explained honestly to the people.
There is a difference between listening to public concerns and making decisions simply out of fear of losing votes.
Health care policy must be guided by evidence, patient safety, available resources and long-term sustainability, not electoral considerations.
Political leaders must have the courage to explain why certain services need to be reorganised, why staffing limitations exist and why some expectations cannot be met immediately. The public deserves honesty about the realities of the health care system, just as health care workers deserve the government’s protection and support.
The state government cannot continuously defend every public demand while leaving its health care workforce to absorb the consequences.
Sabah must stop asking why doctors are leaving and start asking what makes them want to stay. Health care is not merely a political issue or an election promise. It is a responsibility to the people.
Doctors need more than appreciation. Sabah needs action, accountability, and political will. The people of Sabah deserve better.
The author is a doctor at a public health clinic in Sabah. CodeBlue is providing the author anonymity because civil servants are prohibited from writing to the press.
- This is the personal opinion of the writer or publication and does not necessarily represent the views of CodeBlue.
