Addressing lack of prison medical staff

Star: MARANG: The Home Ministry will look into employing more doctors and medical assistants for prison work.
Home Minister Datuk Seri Syed Hamid Albar said currently one doctor and 42 medical assistants treat prisoners in the 25 jails across Malaysia.
Adequate figures should be five doctors and 49 medical assistants.
Syed Hamid said although the shortage was a problem, it could be overcome if "creative" methods were found to attract doctors and medical assistants.
Among the reasons for the reluctance of doctors to work in prisons were the confined environment in which they had to work, the type of patients to be treated and the lack of incentives.
"I blame the prison environment," Syed Hamid said after attending the Malaysian Prison Day celebration, along with Deputy Home Minister Datuk Wan Ahmad Farid Wan Salleh, yesterday.
"You require dedication to work here as you have to treat drug addicts and inmates with HIV and AIDS."
"Doctors can choose to open a clinic," he added. "Sitting in a prison all day may not be too encouraging."
Syed Hamid said the ministry had raised the matter with the Health Ministry, but out of the four doctors sent by the latter, only one remained.
The shortage of doctors, however, had not affected the welfare of prisoners as the ministry had outsourced medical practitioners from private clinics who were more willing to work in prisons for extra income.