Take in unrecognised doctors to help
OUR healthcare service is being stretched to the seams by the Covid-19 outbreak. Healthcare practitioners are on the verge of breakdown, as seen in pictures and videos circulating on WhatsApp. Many are under quarantine and unable to return home. Some are also infected.
The number of patients has drastically increased with not only positive Covid-19 patients in quarantine wards but also those needing specialised care in ICUs nationwide.
Reports from various countries show a grim picture that the worst is yet to come. Cases of Covid-19 have not peaked yet for us. If we go by the statistics in Italy, there is a long way to go. In Italy, 10,000 student doctors were rushed into service (https://bit.ly/2WYFN2N). That shows how critical the situation is!
Even in Malaysia, the Health Ministry has stationed 1,000 housemen at government hospitals nationwide to help in the day-today operations of the fight against Covid-19. I therefore appeal to the Prime Minister, Health Minister and director-general of Health to allow doctors who are graduates from unrecognised universities to serve and help reduce the workload of the healthcare personnel.
Do not leave these doctors on the sidelines. They are all qualified medical doctors in the countries they graduated from. They are an untapped talent in our midst.
The Malaysian Medical Council didn’t have the time or resources to complete the recognition process for their universities. Many have also become specialists and even passed other qualifying exams such as the Australian Medical Council exams, PLAB (UK) and etc. All these talents are ready to assist immediately in Malaysia’s fight against Covid-19. They just need the green light from the authorities.
The Health Minister has the power under Section 12 of the Medical Act to bring them in. This was previously attempted in February 2002 by the then Health Minister Datuk Chua Jui Meng but was not carried out even after it was announced in the media.
Even retired doctors and nurses have been recalled to help in fighting Covid-19. Most of these retirees are at an age where they are very susceptible to the disease, which has a high mortality rate for aged patients. Why risk bringing them in when we have a ready pool of doctors at the prime of their life and who have stronger immune systems?
I hope this plea from unrecognised doctors who might number in the hundreds is taken seriously and acted upon quickly to reduce the present workload of the healthcare personnel. These doctors are all Malaysians and are ready to serve the rakyat. Please stop casting them aside. DOCTORS WILLING TO SERVE Melaka