Over 200 participants from throughout Sarawak, Sabah and Penunsular Malaysia attend the Colloquium.
KUCHING: Forty-five per cent of 209 clinics in Sarawak are without doctors while most of them were manned by assistant medical officers (MAs) and nurses.
In addition, one-third of the clinics are without continuous electricity supply as they still rely on generator sets as well as lacking in clean or treated water supply, revealed Minister of Local Government and Housing Datuk Dr Sim Kui Hian.
He said he will settle these critical issues before 2021.
“I have been entrusted to look into these shortcomings of all the clinics in the state of Sarawak and we will bring up this matter to the Cabinet.
“Don’t talk about having enough doctors in the country when 45 per cent of our clinics are without doctors. Don’t talk about becoming an advanced nation if we do not have electricity and water supply to the clinics,” he said, in his speech that was read by Assistant Minister of Housing and Public Health Dr Annuar Rapaee at the Sarawak Assistant Medical Officers Colloquium held at the Auditorium of Kuching City South Council (MBKS) here today.
The Colloquium themed ‘Enhancing knowledge and skills’ was organised by the Sarawak Assistant Medical Officers Association (SAMOA) and attended by over 200 participants from various units, of both the public and private healthcare sector, throughout Sarawak, Sabah and Peninsular Malaysia.
Taking the matter seriously, Dr Sim stressed that the state’s healthcare sector should not suffer the same fate as the education sector where 1,020 out of 1,454 schools were in dilapidated state.
“We will be ashamed, more so as doctors, if we are unable to deliver this (good healthcare services) to the people of Sarawak.
“We have taken our oath when becoming doctors that we will treat our patients the same, irrespective in the urban or rural areas,” he added.
The main focus of the ministry for the health sector, he stressed, was to ensure that both the urban and rural communities have access to the best healthcare services, similar to that enjoyed by citizens in developed countries.