Dr Yii urges reconsideration of BIW allowance cuts for doctors in Sabah, Sarawak

KUCHING (Dec 19): Bandar Kuching MP Dr Kelvin Yii has called on the Ministry of Health and the Public Service Department to reconsider their decision to cut the Regional Incentive Assistance (BIW) allowances for doctors and pharmacists transferred to Sabah and Sarawak.

He said the authorities should ideally revert to the previous BIW framework, which was based on a percentage of salary, for doctors, nurses and pharmacists posted to Sabah, Sarawak or Labuan.

“Even with this system, we had troubles attracting and retaining medical professionals to address the dire need of medical professionals in the region,” he said in a press statement today.

“Such steep cuts will just aggravate an already dire situation of insufficient medical professionals in Sabah and Sarawak, jeopardising the quality of care for our patients.”

Dr Yii said recent statistics showing a 43 per cent “no-show” rate among medical officers (MOs) in Sarawak for permanent postings this year should serve as a serious warning of the situation.

He noted that Sarawak’s doctor-to-population ratio currently stands at approximately 1:510, which translates to about 1.96 doctors per 1,000 population.

“In comparison to the national average of approximately 1:406, or 2.46 doctors per 1,000 population, Sarawak has roughly 21 per cent fewer doctors per capita than the national average,” he said.

“To match the national average, Sarawak would need hundreds more doctors, especially specialists, and such policies notionally do not help, but may instead push the shortage of medical personnel in the region to Code Blue (a grave situation),” he added.

allowance doctors dr kelvin yii lead Regional Incentive Payment