A health policy researcher says the 2027 budget should have placed greater emphasis on preventing chronic diseases through education and programmes encouraging behavioural changes. (Rawpixel pic)PETALING JAYA: The government's offer of more permanent positions for contract doctors must be complemented with measures to improve their retention in the public health system, says a public health researcher.
Ilyana Mukhriz, a research associate at the Khazanah Research Institute, said permanent appointments alonewould not resolve the challenges of retaining doctors even though they were a significant step towards improving job security.
"One budget allocation cannot fix it all, but the next steps should be to ensure that doctors have decent working conditions, clear communication of career progression potential, more adequate permanent senior posts using cluster- and merit-based warrants as well as fair remuneration," she told FMT.
