By Olivia Miwil
KOTA KINABALU: The shortage of medical specialists remains a major challenge in Sabah, Datuk Julita Manjungki said.
The state Women, Health and People's Wellbeing Minister said efforts to address the issue include encouraging doctors to pursue specialisation, increasing federal training scholarships and providing rural posting incentives.
She said the authorities would also appeal for the reinstatement of regional allowances and relocation benefits for permanent medical officers.
"Tawau Hospital currently offers 23 specialist services," she said.
Sabah currently has 3 cardiologists, 6 cardiology fellows, 2 paediatric cardiologists and a cardiothoracic surgeon, she said in her winding-up speech at the state assembly.
Meanwhile, she said construction of the Sabah Dental Specialist Centre in Kota Kinabalu was completed on Dec 5 last year at a cost of RM32.76 million.
The centre provides orthodontic, periodontic, restorative and public dental health services, and functions as a one-stop centre for non-hospital-based specialist dental services, thereby reducing congestion at existing facilities.
A RM92 million Sabah Blood Centre covering the state, Labuan and parts of Sarawak is expected to be completed in 2029.
The centre will increase blood collection from 65,000 to 120,000 units annually.
As for the upgrading of Queen Elizabeth II Hospital into the Sabah National Heart Centre, the Preliminary Cost Estimate (AKA) document by the Public Works Department is currently being prepared.
An allocation of RM18 million for the procurement of two magnetic resonance imaging machines for the Sabah Women and Children's Hospital and Queen Elizabeth II Hospital has been approved under the 12th Malaysia Plan Rolling Plan 2.
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