1Care scheme for better healthcare

Star: MALACCA: The Health Minis-try is in talks with the Malaysian Medical Association (MMA) to implement a 1Care scheme that will see government and private clinics working together to provide better healthcare for the people.
Minister Datuk Seri Liow Tiong Lai said the scheme, once approved, would have an immediate impact on improving the country’s healthcare system while also addressing the scarce distribution of government clinics in Sabah and Sarawak.
At present, there are 800 government health clinics nationwide with 6,500 general practitioners.
“If we work together with the private clinics, we will be able to increase this number to more than 7,000 doctors nationwide,” Liow said at the MMA’s 50th annual general meeting on Friday night.
Liow said the ministry was in discussion with MMA to iron out details of the tie-up.
“I have briefed the Prime Minister on the proposal and he is very excited about it as it would help improve the healthcare service for the people,” he added.
Liow also said the Govern-ment was mulling over the possibility of imposing a moratorium on private medical colleges following MMA’s concerns about a possible glut in poorly train-ed doctors within the next decade.
“We have agreed to put a stop to it. A moratorium has to be set up to allow us to produce quality doctors,” he said.
He said there were currently 31,273 registered doctors nationwide with the Government focusing on achieving a ratio of 1:600 by 2015.
He was responding to the issue raised by MMA president Dr David Quek that the number of doctors in the country would swell to between 45,000 and 50,000 by 2015 and 75,000 and 80,000 by 2020.
In view of the glut, Quek said that MMA was concerned about the quality and standard of such doctors.
As of this month, there are 28 approved private institutions offering 37 medical courses that produce between 2,000 and 3,000 doctors annually exclu-ding the estimated 2,000 graduates returning from abroad.