KUALA LUMPUR – The Health Ministry (MoH) has made it mandatory for contract medical officers appointed to permanent positions to select at least one placement option in Sabah or Sarawak through the e-Placement 2.0 system, to address the uneven distribution of healthcare personnel between Peninsular Malaysia and the Borneo states.
Health Minister Datuk Seri Dr Dzulkefly Ahmad said this approach, which has never been implemented before, reflects the government’s strong commitment to narrowing the gap in the placement of specialists, doctors, and nurses across the country.
“It is mandatory that one of the three choices must be a placement in Sabah or Sarawak, which has never been done before,” said Dzulkefly during the oral question-and-answer session in the Dewan Rakyat today.
He was responding to Datuk Dr Richard Rapu (Betong-GPS), who asked about measures taken by the government to reduce the imbalance in the distribution of healthcare human resources between Peninsular Malaysia, Sabah, and Sarawak, particularly concerning the placement of specialists, doctors, and nurses.
Dzulkefly added that the ministry had also set placement quotas for permanent medical officers – 650 in Sarawak and 310 in Sabah – representing 42.7% of the 2,248 officers recently appointed nationwide.
In addition, he said a total of 1,002 contract medical officers had been placed in Sabah and 937 in Sarawak as of March 31, to meet the growing workforce demands at public health facilities in both states.
As part of long-term efforts, he added that MoH supports state governments’ initiatives to offer scholarships for medical and health studies, and to provide additional merit points for those serving in Sabah and Sarawak, particularly in remote and interior areas.
“This merit serves as a weightage – an added score in evaluating candidates for scholarship selection,” he explained.
Replying to a supplementary question from Richard on strategies to retain medical officers in the public sector, Dzulkefly said one key measure was the absorption of contract officers into permanent positions.
“Over the past three years, we have successfully absorbed more than 13,552 contract medical officers into permanent roles,” he said.
He added that the effort aligns with recent amendments to the Medical Act, which now recognise the Parallel Pathway and local Master’s programmes, an initiative aimed at encouraging doctors to remain in public service. – July 31, 2025