The ministry said in a written reply to Senator Dr RA Lingeshwaran that it seeks to increase the number of scholarships and introduce better promotional prospects for these doctors.

“As for hospitals that do not have resident geriatricians, the ministry has introduced an outreach programme whereby specialists from other hospitals will visit them to provide geriatric care to patients there,” it said.

According to the statistics department, 14.5% of Malaysians will be aged 65 years old and above by 2040, nearly double the 8.1% recorded in 2024.

Lingeshwaran previously said Malaysia has only 67 geriatricians, of whom 51 are in public hospitals.

He also said there is currently only one geriatrician for every 40,000 senior citizens (aged 65 and above). “This is far from the government’s target of having one for every 10,000 senior citizens,” he told FMT.

Lingeshwaran, a former director of the Sungai Bakap Hospital in Penang, said the Dewan Negara was told recently that at least 549 geriatricians are needed by 2030.

“It is impossible to achieve this target at the present rate,“ he said, as the health ministry has said only about eight geriatric specialists are being produced every year.