Materia Medica Malaysiana

Ministry Acts To Overcome Dentists Shortage

KUALA LUMPUR, May 26 (Bernama) -- The Health Ministry is making efforts to train at least 375 dentists a year to alleviate the severe shortage of the professionals in the country, its minister Datuk Dr Chua Soi Lek said Thursday.
He said Malaysia now had 2,720 dentists, 3,780 short of the desired figure.
"At the ministry, only 890 vacancies or 57 per cent of positions available for dentists had been filled," he told a press conference after opening the 27th Asia Pacific Dental Congress at the Putra World Trade Centre (PWTC) here.
He said the shortage was due to declining interest in dentistry.
Chua said there were 1,873 dental clinics throughout the country, 20 mobile clinics and 276 teams on the move to provide dental services to the people, including in rural areas.
He said the mobile clincs had helped provide increased oral health coverage for Malaysians, especially schoolchildren, where for primary school it was 91 per cent and secondary schools 94 per cent.
Urban areas were well covered by the private sector, he added.
More than 1,500 dental professionals from over 28 countries are attending the five-day congress.