KUALA LUMPUR, June 26 — Datuk Seri Dzulkefly Ahmad today disclosed that there are only 17 cardiothoracic specialists serving under the Health Ministry for the country’s 34 million population.

Responding to queries in the Dewan Rakyat, he underscored the severity of the situation, noting that efforts to bolster this specialist workforce is underway, though slowly.

"The ministry is always trying to overcome the problem of a shortage of cardiothoracic surgery specialists,” the health minister was quoted by local daily The Star as saying in a written parliamentary reply

Dzulkefly was replying to Pakatan Harapan backbencher for Kota Melaka, Khoo Poay Tiong, who wanted an explanation for the shortage of cardiothoracic surgery specialists nationwide.

The spotlight on cardiothoracic specialists followed news reports of an increasing number of patients in desperate need of treatment, with The Star previously reporting some 1,500 people with heart and lung disease in public hospitals in critical condition now.

The minister added that the government has taken steps to increase specialists in this field through the Parallel Path Expertise Training introduced in 2014, and that Universiti Teknologi Mara (UiTM) has a dedicated Master's programme in cardiothoracic surgery.

He said 23 doctors are currently undergoing specialised training in cardiothoracic surgery, of which 16 are doing so through parallel pathway training, and seven under UiTM’s medical master’s programme set up in 2020.

He added that the ministry is also increasing the number of the federal specialist scholarships to 1,650 slots yearly through the parallel pathway programme by offering 600 places.

Other measures taken include reappointing retired medical officers to serve under the Health Ministry on a contract basis for high-demand locations; taking in specialists from the private sector to serve on a sessional basis; and encouraging Malaysian doctors abroad to return to serve at home.

Dzulkefly said the government has introduced a UD56 grade for public sector specialists that allow them to work in the private sector where they can earn extra income, outside their regular working hours.

The government has also improved the allowances for doctors by upping it to RM200 an hour and providing incentive payment up to RM3,100, on-call and active call allowances of RM230 on weekdays and RM250 on weekends, the minister reportedly said.

Asked the total number of specialists currently in service with the government by Opposition MP for Pendang Datuk Awang Hashim, Dzulkefly replied that there were about 8,397 gazetted positions.

He was reported saying that internal medicine specialists top the list with 1,412 doctors, followed by Anaesthesiology and Critical Care (736), Family Medicine (673) and Public Health (586).