KUALA LUMPUR: Kuala Selangor Member of Parliament Datuk Seri Dr Dzulkefly Ahmad is back to helm the Health Ministry (MOH) in a Cabinet reshuffle announced by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim today.

Dr Dzulkefly was the Health Minister during the Pakatan Harapan (PH) government for 22 months, from May 21, 2018, to Feb 24, 2020, during which he faced the early challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic in the country and initiated measures to enforce a smoking ban on all food premises.

The 67-year-old politician holds a Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) degree in Medical Sciences (Toxicology) from Imperial College (St. Mary's Hospital Medical School), University of London.

He graduated with a Master of Science degree from the University of Surrey and a Bachelor's degree from the University of Birmingham, England.

Before entering politics, Dr Dzulkefly was a lecturer at the Faculty of Medical Sciences, Universiti Sains Malaysia, Penang, and at Hospital Universiti Sains Malaysia (HUSM), Kelantan.

He first contested on a PAS ticket for the Kapar parliamentary seat in the 10th general election but lost to a Barisan Nasional (BN) candidate and in the 11th general election, contested for the Rembau parliamentary seat, which also ended in defeat to a BN candidate.

His first victory was in the 12th general election when he won the Kuala Selangor parliamentary seat, defeating BN candidate Jahaya Ibrahim, but failed to retain the seat in the 13th general election after losing by a narrow margin of 460 votes to BN candidate Datuk Seri Dr Irmohizam Ibrahim.

Dzulkefly, who is Parti Amanah Negara (Amanah) Strategy Director, however, was able to wrest back the Kuala Selangor seat from BN in the 14th general election with a majority of 8,498 votes.

He retained the Kuala Selangor parliamentary seat in the 15th general election in a four-cornered contest, securing a majority of 1,002 votes.

-- BERNAMA