NST:MALAYSIA is facing an acute shortage of paediatric heart surgeons, Health Ministry parliamentary secretary Datuk Lee Kah Choon said in Penang today.
He said statistics showed at least 1,500 children seek such treatment annually. Now Malaysia only has 22 surgeons, in the public and private healthcare sectors.
Lee said there are seven such surgeons at the National Heart Institute (IJN), four in University Hospital, four in Government hospitals and the rest in private hospitals.
"The ministry is taking all the necessary steps to increase the number of these surgeons.
"However, we are also mindful that it is not going to be easy as it takes about 15 years for one to sub-specialise in a certain medical field," he said after paying a visit to five heart patients at the Penang Adventist Hospital here.
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