Over 27 000 Health Posts To Be Filled Under Phased Recruitment Drive

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The government is carrying out a phased recruitment process to fill 27,724 positions in the Health Ministry, said Minister Datuk Seri Dr Dzulkefly Ahmad. - BERNAMA PICKUALA LUMPUR: The government is carrying out a phased recruitment process to fill 27,724 positions in the Health Ministry, said Minister Datuk Seri Dr Dzulkefly Ahmad.
He said the hiring involves medical specialists, medical officers, dental officers, pharmacists, nurses, and assistant medical officers.
Dzulkefly said the ministry remains committed to continuing the staffing process across various service schemes and outlined six key strategies for staff placement.
"To increase the number of medical specialists, the ministry provides opportunities for medical officers to pursue postgraduate studies in medicine and through the parallel pathway.
"For medical officers, dental officers, and pharmacists, recruitment is carried out on a contract basis, with permanent appointments made when vacancies arise.
"The recruitment of nurses, assistant medical officers, and other paramedical service schemes is done through pre-service training programmes at the Ministry's Training Institutes (ILKKM)," he said in a written parliamentary reply.
He added that in addition to ILKKM, the ministry also recruits nurses from diploma graduates in nursing from both public and private higher education institutions.
He said the ministry is also in the process of recruiting 8,694 personnel at entry-level grades in 2025, in line with approvals from central agencies. The recruitment will be carried out in collaboration with the Public Services Commission (SPA).
"For promotion-grade positions, as of March 2025, the ministry has implemented 195 acting and promotion exercises involving 6,013 health personnel. The promotion process is based on recommendations by the Promotion Board," he said.
Dzulkefly was responding to a question from Zahari Kechik (IND-Jeli) on the number of positions that need to be filled nationwide.
Zahari had also asked about the current ratio of medical officers, medical specialists, nurses, assistant medical officers, pharmacists, and dental officers to patients, compared to the actual needs by state, as well as the breakdown of permanent and contract positions.
In response, Dzulkefly said that the health personnel-to-population ratio is calculated based on the number of registered health workers serving in each state relative to the population size and not based on the number of patients.
As of December 2023, the national ratio stood at: 1 doctor for every 406 people, 1 dental officer for every 2,343 people, 1 pharmacist for every 1,626 people, 1 nurse for every 282 people and 1 assistant medical officer for every 1,326 people.
These figures, he said, include both permanent and contract staff who are actively serving in the public healthcare system.
He added that Malaysia currently has 135,108 permanent staff and 22,195 contract staff serving under the Health Ministry as of March this year.
Out of this total, there are 38,955 medical officers, 69,890 nurses, 19,885 assistant medical officers, 12,899 pharmacists, 8,635 medical specialists, and 7,021 dental officers.
The Health Ministry has been facing staff shortages, especially in key roles such as medical officers, specialists, and nurses.
This is worsened by rising healthcare demands, an ageing population, and the increasing burden of non-communicable diseases. - NST

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