KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia is facing a shortage of nurses, which needs to be addressed immediately to prevent a crisis later on.
Health Minister Khairy Jamaluddin said government hospitals and clinics have reported a shortage of nurses.
Therefore, he said the ministry has been instructed to conduct a detailed analysis and study on the matter.
"This is a complaint that I have heard from multiple hospital directors. Therefore, I have asked the ministry to carry out a comprehensive analysis of the issue.
"We need to get to the bottom of this," he told reporters after launching the Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) complex and medical gas supply upgrade project at the National Leprosy Control Centre, Sungai Buloh Hospital here today.
In the long run, he said the government must look into Malaysia's public health expenditure.
"This is not a secret. It is publicly known that we have chronically under-invested in our public healthcare system.
"If we benchmark Malaysia with other upper middle-income countries, our public healthcare allocation makes up only two per cent of the gross domestic product (GDP).
"This is why although we can provide world-class health services, we are witnessing shortages at public hospitals and clinics.
"It is something that must be changed. We hope that with the support from the public and government, the Health Ministry will be allocated a bigger budget for healthcare expenditure that can be used to upgrade and purchase better equipment and for research."
Khairy said the ministry would table a White Paper on the matter to the Parliament that outlines a long term transformation for the country's healthcare system.
"This cannot end with me and must outlast the present government and ministry."