Health ministry to recommend permanent posts for dental, pharmacy officers

The health ministry will recommend absorbing contract dental and pharmacy officers into permanent positions for the consideration of the finance ministry and Cabinet.

Health minister Dzulkefly Ahmad said the proposal would be pursued within a reasonable timeframe, based on the approach previously used to address the issue of contract medical doctors.

“…the first step will be followed by other service schemes, namely dentists and pharmacists as well,” he said when met after appearing as a guest on Bernama TV’s Ruang Bicara programme last night.

He said the recruitment of dental and pharmacy officers into permanent positions would utilise a new quota separate from the 9,000 permanent medical doctor positions announced in the 2027 budget.

The Malaysian Dental Association had urged the government and health ministry to consider permanent appointments for contract dental officers following the announcement of permanent appointments for medical doctors.

Commenting on reports regarding dental officers whose contracts had ended without being renewed, Dzulkefly said the health ministry would continue to pay attention to their welfare and work experience within the public healthcare system.

On a separate matter, Dzulkefly expressed hope that the finance ministry would consider a request for a seed allocation of approximately RM100 million to strengthen the management of non-communicable diseases (NCDs) at the primary healthcare level.

He said the allocation was crucial for enhancing the prevention, screening, diagnosis, treatment and the continuous control of chronic diseases such as diabetes and high blood pressure.

“Matters related to NCD management are a major component I am bringing into the reforms. In addition to PeKa B40, which received an allocation of RM80 million, managing NCDs from a healthcare perspective is essential to effectively address this chronic disease pandemic,” he said.

He said benchmarking per capita expenditure for NCD management also took into account practices in countries like Singapore and Indonesia, as well as global trends prioritising primary healthcare services.