Appointment of medical officers based on merit - MOH

KUALA LUMPUR: The appointment of medical officers on a permanent basis all this while has been based on merit and performance during their housemanship, said secretary-general of the Ministry of Health (MOH), Datuk Mohd Shafiq Abdullah.

He explained that there was a misinterpretation of the media statement made by the Minister of Health, Datuk Seri Dr Adham Baba last Wednesday that included the views of the Malaysian Public Health Physicians' Association and Malaysian Islamic Doctors Association.

Both associations have suggested that the government review the recruitment of new medical graduates into public service to ensure that they, especially the Bumiputera medical graduates could serve the MOH permanently and help reduce the unemployment rate in the professional field in this country.

"The ministry's explanation on the issue raised by both associations was made from the second paragraph of the media statement. Hopefully, this explanation could end the confusion and misinterpretation by all parties on MOH's transparency and integrity," Mohd Shafiq said in a statement today.

He added that the first paragraph, however, was not the ministry's stand.

He was responding to a statement issued by the Malaysian Medical Association (MMA) yesterday titled, "Healthcare is colour blind", which rejected racial and religious elements in the selection and appointment of medical officers to a permanent post.

-- BERNAMA