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)