Although many doctors hail the allocation of 9,000 permanent positions under Budget 2027 as a sweet victory in a decade-long struggle, the Madani government has never described this measure as an “abolition” of the contract doctor system.
In both written and verbal statements to the media, Health Minister Dzulkefly Ahmad only ever used the word “dinoktahkan”, the same word used by Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim when tabling the federal budget in Parliament, rather than “pemansuhan”.
The former is more grandiloquent language, especially when applied to the contract doctor “issue” (another vague word), compared to an abolition of the entire contract doctor “system”.
The substance of the policy measure itself — offering 9,000 permanent positions to contract doctors, including those who complete housemanship — also indicates that permanency is merely being offered at an earlier stage of a doctor’s career, i.e. after housemanship instead of after two years’ compulsory service as a medical officer.
