Julita says the announcement reflected the urgency of addressing Sabah’s longstanding shortage of healthcare personnel, particularly in rural and remote districts where access to medical services remains a challenge.
KOTA KINABALU (July 11): State Minister for Women, Health and People’s Wellbeing Datuk Julita Majungki has welcomed the Ministry of Health’s (MoH) decision to offer 560 permanent medical officer postings for Sabah beginning this October.
She said the announcement reflected the urgency of addressing Sabah’s longstanding shortage of healthcare personnel, particularly in rural and remote districts where access to medical services remains a challenge.
“We appreciate the federal government’s commitment to increasing the number of medical officers in Sabah.
“At the same time, attention must also be given to ensuring these officers report for duty and remain in service in Sabah over the long term,” she said in a statement.
Julita said efforts to strengthen recruitment should be complemented by measures to improve retention, particularly for healthcare personnel serving in rural and remote areas.
She reiterated proposals she had previously raised to strengthen the recruitment and retention of healthcare personnel in Sabah, including the restoration and strengthening of incentive schemes such as the Regional Incentive Payment (BIW), improved support for medical personnel serving in rural and remote districts, and efforts to provide a conducive working environment for healthcare professionals.
“Recruitment is an important first step, but retention is equally critical. We must ensure that healthcare professionals who choose to serve in Sabah are supported and encouraged to build long term careers here,” she said.
Julita said the state government looks forward to continuing its close cooperation with the MoH to strengthen healthcare services, address manpower shortages and improve healthcare outcomes for Sabahans.
She expressed hope that the additional permanent postings would help ease staffing pressures at healthcare facilities across the state and further enhance access to quality healthcare services, particularly for communities in underserved areas.