PUTRAJAYA: The Ministry of Health (MOH) is offering 4,914 permanent posts this year, comprising 4,263 posts for medical officers, 335 dental officers and 316 pharmacy officers.

Minister Dr Zaliha Mustafa said applications to fill the posts are open from today until Jan 21 through the Public Services Commission's job registration portal at https://spa9.spa.gov.my.

In her New Year 2023's Message for the MOH, Dr Zaliha said state health directors are advised to align staffing or human resources with work rotation, such as by placing officers from health clinics at hospitals to avoid burnout among the officers.

She also called on the directors to relook into the need to extend the operating hours of the health clinics to overcome overcrowding at hospitals' emergency departments.

"This is to enable patients who are categorised as non-critical cases to be treated at the clinics rather than at the emergency departments," she said, citing the Auditor-General's Report 2019 which revealed that congestion at most hospitals' emergency departments with a waiting period exceeding six hours was mainly caused by non-critical cases.

On the allocation for MOH in the revised 2023 Budget which will be tabled on Feb 24, Dr Zaliha is optimistic that the ministry would receive a larger allocation this year compared to RM32.41 billion received last year.

She said the more than 30 health facility projects are expected to be handed over to the MOH and begin operations this year, including the Pendang Hospital project in Kedah and the Kemaman Hospital project in Terengganu.

"With the completion of these projects, it is hoped that a better healthcare service can be provided to meet the need of the people in the areas," she said.

Dr Zaliha also said that the MOH will resume the human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccination that can prevent cervical cancer to Form One students this year.

"In 2021, the HPV vaccination had to be postponed due to global supply disruptions, but the MOH had successfully procured 100,000 doses of the vaccine last December," she said.

On COVID-19, Dr Zaliha said the MOH will explain all aspects to improve the country's preparedness in facing the new wave of COVID-19 in an engagement session with the media next Tuesday.

She said this was because the ministry is still in discussions with the Home Ministry, Immigration Department, airport operators as well as the Ministry of Tourism, Arts and Culture to see which aspects can be streamlined.

She said the MOH takes seriously the latest developments regarding the spread of the new variants of COVID-19 in the country and strives to protect the country's public health system.

-- BERNAMA