Minister: Plan to double locally-trained specialists

By NG CHENG YEE

Star, 9th June 2008.

KUALA LUMPUR: There are only 1,800 medical specialists in both the public and private sectors and the Government hopes to raise the figure by 100% by training them locally, said Health Minister Datuk Liow Tiong Lai.

He urged specialist bodies to train more members in the various fields and expand the number of medical experts in both district and state hospitals.

“Currently, the country has a critical shortage of cardiologists and oncologists,” he told reporters after attending the Malaysian Association of Plastic, Aesthetic and Craniomaxillofacial Surgeons Fellowship Night here yesterday.

He said the country was facing such shortages because many medical professionals had resigned and left for private practice before completing their specialist courses.

“Every year, the ministry allocates RM430mil on training nurses, doctors and specialists and we are putting in an effort to narrow the ratio of these professionals in the public and private sectors,” he said.

As for plastic surgeons, he said there were 42 such specialists nationwide and there were three to five new ones being trained every year.

Liow said the country had all the facilities and requirements to become a centre for beauty surgery, which was gaining popularity worldwide and all that it lacked was a high number of specialists in the field.

“The cost of getting such service is relatively lower compared to those offered by hospitals in the United States and European countries, where patients have to wait for three to five years before getting treatment.

“We (the Government) hope to churn out more such specialists as plastic surgery

has great potential to help make Malaysia a popular medical tourism destination,” he said.

On another matter, Liow said the ministry was drafting the Cosmetic Bill to regulate the country's 140,000 establishments in the beauty field.

“We hope to table the bill by either the end of this year or early next year so that we can set a good standard when providing beauty service to our rakyat,” he said.

Govt hospitals getting ready for higher traffic

By SIM LEOI LEOI

Star, 9th June 2008

PUTRAJAYA: Public hospitals are being geared up to expect a higher volume of patients seeking their services now that the price of fuel has been increased.

Health Minister Datuk Liow Tiong Lai said the ministry had already taken a few steps to recruit more doctors and nurses as well as upgrade hospital facilities.

"We have already decided to extend our services to after office hours and on Saturdays. If need be, we may even open our clinics on Sundays because there are too many patients.

"We are also trying to attract Malaysian doctors working overseas to return and we are looking for ways to engage private doctors into working at public hospitals.

"At present, most private doctors with us are only offering outpatient treatment and there are very few specialists. I think our terms are not attractive enough so we'll have to re-look our conditions again," he told reporters Monday after launching the breast cancer pathology update at Putrajaya Hospital here.

Liow said many private doctors had indicated to him their interest in working in public hospitals due to the more challenging nature of the cases.

Asked if he expected public hospitals to come under strain from the increase in patients, Liow said many district hospitals were already facing difficulties.

"I know of certain hospitals which have only five or seven doctors working," he said, adding that the Government service loses some 300 doctors and 50 specialists each year.

Public hospitals are 98% subsidised by the Government. Last Wednesday, Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi had announced a 78 sen increase for each litre of petrol.

Liow also said National Healthcare Financing Scheme would not be implemented any time soon as a report on its economic viability would not be ready by year-end.

On breast cancer, Liow said 3,738 new cases had been reported since 2003, 64% of these were patients between 40 and 60 years of age. "Breast cancer makes up 31% of newly-diagnosed female cancer cases," he said, adding that the ministry would continue to advocate breast self-examination among women as one method of early detection.

Liow said currently, there were 55 public hospitals treating breast cancer and more tests would be available soon to detect the ailment among women.

85 complaints made against petrol stations

KUALA LUMPUR: The Domestic Trade and Consumer Affairs Ministry has received 85 reports of petrol stations that stopped selling oil on Wednesday night after the announcement of the fuel price increase.

Ministry director-general for enforcement Mohd Roslan Mahayudin said Kelantan recorded the highest number of complaints with 30 cases, while Johor had 15.

He said his department was investigating all the complaints.

Meanwhile, Minister Datuk Shahrir Abdul Samad said the prices of petrol and diesel were unlikely to change in the next two months.

He said this was because the monthly monitoring of global oil prices had not started.

Asked about the rise in sugar price, he said it had nothing to do with the fuel hike.

“This could be due to supply problems caused by panic buying. The situation will return to normal.”

He said sugar was a controlled item, which came under the Price Control Act.

Any complaints can be directed to the ministry’s hotline at 1-800-886-800, or via e-mail to aduan@kpdnhep.gov.my.

In Muar, Umno Bandar A branch chairman Datuk Kadar Shah Tun Sulaiman said Shahrir should not make anymore announcements on fuel prices as it would only frustrate the rakyat.

He added that Shahrir had recently said there would be no increase in fuel prices until August but the Government had raised the prices in June, taking the people by surprise.

Public transport, school bus operators warned against raising fares

By IZATUN SHARI

SHAH ALAM: Public transport and school bus operators which are using fleet cards have been issued a stern warning not to increase fares.

Entrepreneur Development Minister Datuk Noh Omar said the Commercial Vehicle Licensing Board (CVLB) must approve any fare hike by public transport operators.

He said CVLB had been instructed to step up enforcement against public transport or bus companies which deliberately increased fares by suspending or revoking their licence.

“I would like to stress that public transport and school bus operators are not affected by the fuel hike because they are entitled to diesel at RM1.43 per litre and they are given fleet cards. There is no reason why they should increase their fares as announced by the bus operators association today,” he told reporters Friday after attending Umno retreat at a hotel here.

“I appeal that bus companies do not take advantage of the situation. We will not compromise with them.”

He was commenting on reports that some bus companies in Puduraya had raised fares by RM10.

Noh said his ministry along with the Domestic Trade and Consumer Affairs Ministry and Treasury held a meeting Friday morning with representatives from bus companies to help overcome problems faced by bus and public transport operators.

He said public transport operators, such as rented cars, taxis, workers’ buses and tipper lorries, which were not using fleet cards had been asked to apply for one from the Domestic Trade and Consumer Affairs Ministry.

Noh said the Government was considering giving the full diesel quota to public transport operators who were already using fleet cards and subsidising public transport including taxis, buses and lorries, which were using petrol.

Currently, public transport companies using the fleet card are getting only 70% of the diesel quota for their operations.

Noh also urged public transport operators to be patient as the Government was considering their appeal to increase fares, which would have to be approved by the Cabinet.

He called on the public to lodge a report with the CVLB if they know of any school bus and public transport companies which had increased fares by calling 1800 88 9600 or sending an SMS to 39900.

Domestic Trade and Consumer Affairs Minister Datuk Shahrir Abdul Samad gave the assurance that his ministry would ensure that public transport operators, including school and express buses, would get the full quota for diesel and petrol through the fleet card system as the current 70% quota would only last for about three weeks.

He said his ministry was also looking at the possibility of giving diesel subsidy to workers’ buses.