PETALLING JAYA: Following comments from a senator about the insufficient number of specialists in geriatric medicine, the health ministry stated they are taking steps to boost this count.
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 lacking resident geriatricians, the ministry has implemented an outreach program where specialists from other facilities will travel to these locations to offer elderly patient care," it stated.
Based on data from the statistical agency, 14.5% of Malaysians will be 65 years old and above by 2040, which is almost twice as high as the 8.1% documented in 2024.
Lingeshwaran previously said Malaysia has only 67 geriatricians, of whom 51 are in public hospitals.
He also mentioned that at present, there is just one geriatrician available for every 40,000 elderly individuals (those aged 65 and older). "This falls short of the government's aim to have one geriatrician for every 10,000 seniors," he explained to FMT.
Lingeshwaran, who previously served as the director of Sungai Bakap Hospital in Penang, mentioned that the Dewan Negara was informed not long ago that approximately 549 geriatricians will be required by the year 2030.
"It’s unattainable to meet this objective with the current pace," he stated, since the health ministry mentioned that merely around eight geriatric specialists are generated annually.