KL to hire 800 foreign doctors

KL to hire 800 foreign doctors

KUALA LUMPUR (AP): The government plans to hire nearly 800 foreign doctors because of a shortage of medical specialists in rural Malaysia, a senior health official said on Tuesday.

The doctors will be recruited from Bangladesh, Indonesia and Myanmar, also known as Burma, to work in state-run hospitals, Deputy Health Minister Suleiman Mohamed told the lower house of Parliament.

The minister, quoted by the national Bernama news agency, said the Cabinet was expected to approve the plan soon. Suleiman said many Malaysian doctors were lured by better salaries at private hospitals. He did not elaborate.