M`SIA: DOCTOR SURPLUS BY 2015 INACCURATE, SAYS HEALTH DG

KUALA LUMPUR, Dec 22 (Bernama) -- The director-general of Health Dr
Mohd Ismail Merican Monday dismissed news reports that Malaysia will probably
face a surplus of doctors by 2015.

"While it is true that projections indicate that Malaysia may be able to
achieve a doctor to population ratio of 1:600 before 2015, this does not mean we
will face surplus of doctors once the ratio is reached," he said in a statement
Monday.

The ratio is recommended by the World Health Organisation (WHO) as a
general benchmark for developing countries for planning purposes. It is a
dynamic norm that has to be used wisely by countries based on their own
socio-economic, demographic, epidemiological, geographical and technological
settings.

Dr Mohd Ismail said: "As Malaysia advances and develops, the ideal doctor
to
population ratio for the country will have to shift to a lower range to
accommodate the expected higher demand of the population for more personalised
and better quality medical care.

"The density will also need to increase to accommodate the increasing
specialisation and sub-specialisation of medical practice.

"There is also the issue of equitability and accessibility of health
services, especially in Sabah, Sarawak and some states in Peninsular Malaysia,"
he said.


Moreover, he added, only 60 per cent of the country's doctors in 2007 were
in the public sector.

"Hence, even when the overall ratio of 1:600 has been reached on a national
basis, there may still be a relative shortage of doctors in the fast expanding
public health care sector, the need for efforts to retain them in government
service and to address the geographical, rural-urban and skills-mix
differentials that exist in the country."

Dr Mohd Ismail said up to September 2008, only 53.3 per cent of the
medical officer posts and 51.5 per cent of specialist posts had been filled in
the Health Ministry's hospitals.

Therefore, he said, there was still a significant shortage of doctors in
the country.

He said the news article, "2015-Surplus of Doctors" published by a Chinese
daily on Dec 18, was attributed to the Malaysian Medical Association's Committee
on Medical Education chairman Dr N. Athimulam and did not come from the
Malaysian Medical Council (MMC), hence it could not be taken as an official view
of the Health Ministry.

-- BERNAMA