Pay rural docs extra, urges MMA Sabah

Daily Express: Kota Kinabalu: The Malaysian Medical Association (MMA) Sabah branch Tuesday urged the Health Ministry to seriously look into improving the welfare of doctors serving in rural areas such as by increasing their critical allowance.
Its Chairman, Dr J S Sidhu, said while requiring new doctors recruited by the Government to work in the rural areas for at least one year was a good idea, "...the Government should also give them a little bit more attention".
"The Government ought to consider paying extra to doctors serving in the rural areas for the hardship that they have to go through," he said, when commenting on a statement by Health Minister Datuk Dr Chua Soi Lek on Monday.
Earlier, on Nov 12, during the Sabah MMA annual-cum-installation dinner, Dr Sidhu had proposed that doctors serving in Sabah have their critical allowance increased to 50 per cent of their base salary or a minimum of RM1,000 from the 10 per cent of their base salary or the minimum of RM500 that they receive now.
He said this would be justified in the face of their hardship and higher cost of living.
"Most of the doctors have a heavier workload and face higher costs of returning home. Currently, doctors get only one return air-ticket every two years," he said, adding the authorities have not done enough to attract doctors to come and serve in Sabah.
He said there appears to be a perception among government doctors that as long as they stay in Sabah or accept transfer to Sabah, the chance of securing a place for post-graduate training or of securing a promotion is poor.
Dr Sidhu also said the Government needed to address the issue fast by providing incentives to doctors serving in the rural areas such as offering them more places for post-graduate studies.
"In fact, their one-year stint in the rural area should also count towards their service for consideration for promotion or further studies.
"We don't want to see the situation where doctors are sent to the rural areas and be completely forgotten," he said.
Consumers Association of Sabah (Cash) President, Datuk Patrick Sindu, had also concurred with Sidhu's comment, saying the Government ought to seriously consider increasing doctors' salaries and allowances considering many of them are "overworked". He said if the situation was not improved, the trend of doctors leaving for private practice would continue.
On Dr Chua's statement, Dr Sidhu said it is relevant in order for doctors to learn how to serve the community better through a one-year stint in rural areas.
"Personally, I agree with the idea since the rural population are also citizens of the country and entitled to similar health service and benefits just like the others," he said.
Dr Chua had said he wants all states to ensure that new doctors recruited by the Government must work in rural areas for at least one year.
He said the move would help reduce the shortage of doctors in rural areas and could also expose the new doctors to conditions away from the cities. Currently, only Perak had imposed this condition.
According to Dr Chua, currently only 60 per cent of medical officers' posts at 860 health clinics and 1,900 rural clinics throughout the country had been filled.
He also said the Ministry had applied for a RM1 billion allocation under the Ninth Malaysia Plan (9MP) to upgrade and acquire more equipment for all government clinics in the rural areas.