He said the matter was discussed in the recent Cabinet meeting and received positive feedback from Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim.

“We have received a positive response from the prime minister, who is also the finance minister, and are currently awaiting the amount,” he said, indicating that the announcement will be made when the upcoming Budget 2025 is tabled.

Dzulkefly was speaking at a press conference following the launch of the MyGenom project at the National Institutes of Health. The event was also attended by science, technology, and innovation minister Chang Lih Kang.

On Aug 24, Dzulkefly reportedly said the proposal from Hartal Doktor Kontrak regarding on-call allowances for medical staff would be reviewed and presented to the prime minister for consideration.

On Monday, the Malaysian Medical Association (MMA) said it was looking forward to an announcement from the government on the new on-call allowance rate for public healthcare doctors.

MMA president Dr Azizan Abdul Aziz said doctors in public healthcare had not seen a revision in their on-call allowance for more than a decade.

“MMA had engaged with past health ministers, the present health minister and several ministry officials, and proposed that the hourly on-call rate be increased to RM25 from the current RM9.16,” she had said in a statement.

Azizan said increasing the rate would be another crucial step in recognising the invaluable contributions of public healthcare doctors, adding that it was also necessary to retain talent.

In November 2023, the government shot down any notion of raising the allowance, saying it was of the view that it was appropriate as doctors also enjoyed other allowances.

However, in an apparent U-turn at the Dewan Negara one month later, deputy health minister Lukanisman Awang Sauni said he felt the allowance should be reviewed.