“There are more than 8,000 contract doctors who are going on strike by taking medical/emergency leave as a protest against the unfair system and low wages,” said Mogok Doktor Malaysia (Malaysian Doctors on Strike) in an Instagram post today.
“So your waiting time will be longer than usual. Thank you.”
The group, which has also warned of 3,000 resignations on April 1, previously asked doctors to take medical or emergency leave from April 3 to 5 instead of organising demonstrations or walkouts.
A spokesman for the group, who wanted to be known as Dr Jamal, told FMT that doctors have tried raising their grouses to the health ministry for seven years to no avail.
“We have voiced out (our concerns) to the ministry through the Malaysian Medical Association multiple times over the past (years) and we even joined the Hartal Doktor Kontrak strike in July 2021, but nothing much has changed,” he said.
“Around 83% of us are still contract doctors, and we are not allowed to apply for master programmes, have no unpaid leave, and receive lower wages.”
Apart from the absorption of all contract medical officers to permanent positions without any conditions or interview, the group is pushing for an increase in basic salary, and an increase in on-call rates of medical specialists and medical officers to RM100 and RM40 per hour, respectively.
It has also called on the health ministry to resolve the issue of lack of specialists, medical officers and graduate medical officers immediately, as well as a reduction in the compulsory service term for medical officers to three years.
The group also wants a reduction in on-call and work hours for medical officers and house officers. It said on-call hours should not exceed six times a month, with working hours to be capped at 60 hours a week.
Health director-general Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah yesterday urged the group against going on strike, saying it is not the best solution for the various issues in the public healthcare system.
Noor Hisham said healthcare was a critical sector and that its workers were just as crucial. He warned that going on strike could come at the expense of human lives.