The Malaysian Insight

CONTRACT doctors will strike again following the failure of Budget 2022 to address the long-standing issue of job security, Hartal Doktor Kontrak spokesman Dr Mustapha Kamal A. Aziz said.

Healthcare workers are feeling increasingly dispensable, he told The Malaysian Insight.

“We feel that we are treated like disposables,” he said.

Many of them were astounded when it was revealed during the tabling of Budget 2022 tabled on Friday that only 10,000 healthcare workers would be considered for a contract extension.

“Hartal 2.0 will be under way soon. It comes after a dismal display by the Ministry of Health (MOH) who is unable to protect their own,” he said.

The government has proposed a two-year extension to the two-year contracts of10,000 contract medical doctors, dentists and pharmacists.

But it was not the long-term solution that the doctors sought from the government.

Yet the Health Ministry was one of the largest recipients of the budget funds, on track to receive a total RM32.4 billion.

Only 789 of the 23,077 contract medical officers in service since 2016 have been offered permanent positions, leaving the rest with an uncertain future.

On July 26, hundreds of healthcare workers at government hospitals nationwide staged a walkout to protest the contract system.

The Hartal group had previously submitted a memorandum to the government demanding permanent positions for all contract medical officers permanent positions and the official criteria for the appointment.

The group said the three changes of government since the 2018 general election had been unable to offer a resolution to the problem.

Hartal Doktor Kontrak members met with newly minted Health Minister Khairy Jamaluddin in September to discuss the issue. – November 2, 2021.