GEORGE TOWN: The Health Ministry (MoH) is ready to build a hospital in Semenyih if funds for the facility's development is approved by the Finance Ministry (MoF).
Its minister Datuk Seri Dr Dzulkefly Ahmad said that the government is committed to carry out projects for the betterment of the people however he insisted that the jurisdiction to approve projects is not under his ministry.
“We can make plans for that but whether we are financially able to do that or not is a decision to be made by the Finance Ministry.
“If we are ready then I will be more than happy, the planning is for the whole country so we have to be careful especially in such financial situations.
“If Tun (Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamed) allows it, the Finance Ministry allows it, then we have no problems,” he said after officiating the Advanced Medical and Dental Institute's (AMDI) second 2019 International Oncology and Medical Physics Symposium, here, today.
He was responding Dr Mahathir saying that Pakatan Harapan’s (PH) candidate for the Semenyih by-election, Muhammad Aiman Zainali, can request for a hospital to be built in the constituency.
Apart from that, Dzulkefly said that the government has already proposed for the construction of another health clinic in Semenyih as the existing clinics in Semenyih town and Beranang could not be expanded anymore.
He also said that the facilities at the Kajang Hospital, which is the nearest hospital to Semenyih, would be improved.
This included the construction of a women’s and children’s clinic which is about 800 metres away from the main hospital.
“The people in Semenyih can benefit from this,” he added.
Meanwhile, during his speech at the symposium, he said that Malaysia is lacking in the number of qualified oncologists.
He said that there are only 115 oncologists with 42 of them at government hospitals while the remaining 73 working in the private sector.
“The advancement in cancer treatment needs to be supported equally by adequate number of specialists in this field.
“The ideal ratio would be eight to 10 oncologists per one million population. If the Malaysian population is 34 million, the current ratio stands at 3.4 oncologists per one million people which is critically very low,” he said.