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.