Kuching: The Ministry of Health (MOH) and the Public Service Department (JPA) have been urged to reconsider their decision to cut the Bayaran Insentif Wilayah (BIW) allowances for doctors and pharmacists transferred to Sabah and Sarawak, amid concerns it will worsen the already critical shortage of medical professionals in the region.
Bandar Kuching MP, Dr Kelvin Yii Lee Wuen, said the authorities should ideally revert to the previous BIW framework, which was calculated as a percentage of salary, and applied to doctors, nurses, and pharmacists posted to Sabah, Sarawak, and Labuan.
He stressed that even under the previous system, Sabah and Sarawak faced persistent difficulties in attracting and retaining healthcare workers to meet urgent medical needs.
“Such steep cuts will only aggravate an already dire situation of insufficient medical professionals in Sabah and Sarawak, jeopardising the quality of care for patients,” he said in a statement.
Dr Kelvin highlighted recent data showing that 43 per cent of medical officers posted permanently to Sarawak this year failed to report for duty, describing it as a clear warning sign of the worsening workforce crisis.
He also pointed to the state’s doctor-to-population ratio, which currently stands at approximately 1:510, or 1.96 doctors per 1,000 population.
“This is significantly lower than the national average of about 1:406, or 2.46 doctors per 1,000 population.
“Which means Sarawak has roughly 21 per cent fewer doctors per capita than the national average,” he said.
According to Dr Kelvin, Sarawak would require hundreds more doctors, particularly specialists, to reach parity with national levels.
He warned that policies such as cutting BIW allowances would not only fail to address the shortage but could push the healthcare situation in Sabah and Sarawak into what he described as a “code blue” or grave condition.
