Indonesia to send doctors to Malaysia, says Sujudi

Indonesia to send doctors to Malaysia, says Sujudi

JAKARTA (JP): Minister of Health and Social Welfare Ahmad
Suyudi said on Saturday the government was working on an
agreement with the Malaysian government to send Indonesian
doctors to Malaysia.

Sujudi said the Malaysian ambassador to Indonesia contacted
him recently to ask for the ministry's help to recruit Indonesian
doctors.

The Malaysian government, he said, has asked for some 400
specialists and 2,500 general practitioners.

"We welcome the idea, especially since there are thousands of
fresh medical school graduates who are unemployed," he said as
quoted by Antara.

The minister said that out of 4,000 doctors graduated every
year, only 20 percent found jobs, either as civil servants or
private employees.

The ministry is now working on a document that includes work
safety and protection, welfare and job descriptions for
Indonesian doctors who will work in the neighboring country.

"After the agreement is settled, we will ask the Indonesian
Doctors Association (IDI) to select doctors interested in working
in Malaysia," Sujudi said, adding that the doctors would be paid
in U.S. dollars.

Doctors' contracts, he said, would be settled between each
doctor and the Malaysian Ministry of Health. "The Indonesian
government will only facilitate with the agreement."

Sujudi said he believed that Indonesian doctors were
professional and that they could meet the demand of the Malaysian
government, given the similarities in language, culture and race.
(hdn)