The government must end all double standards in the Ministry of Health’s contract employment policy. If medical officers are given a pathway to permanent positions, then pharmacists, dentists, nurses and other healthcare professionals must be treated fairly as well.

Malaysia is already facing a serious brain drain in public healthcare. Many doctors, dentists and nurses have left for the private sector or opportunities abroad due to uncertainty, workload pressures and limited career advancement. If pharmacists are now pushed out through an unfair contract system, the crisis will only deepen.

Pharmacists are not peripheral staff. They are a core pillar of healthcare delivery. They ensure safe dispensing of medicines, explain dosage instructions, monitor drug interactions, counsel patients on side effects, and help improve treatment compliance. Without sufficient pharmacists, patient safety and service efficiency will suffer.

When experienced pharmacists leave public hospitals and clinics, waiting times may increase, medication counselling may be reduced, and the burden on already overstretched doctors and nurses will grow. This is not merely an employment issue but a patient care issue.

The government cannot claim to strengthen healthcare services while allowing one essential profession to be sidelined. Equal contribution must mean equal opportunity.

We therefore urge the government to implement the following measures immediately:

1. Provide a transparent pathway to permanency for pharmacists, similar to medical officers.
2. Absorb experienced contract pharmacists first before they are forced out of service.
3. Create more funded permanent posts based on actual service demand in hospitals and clinics.
4. Introduce fair promotion and career progression structures across all healthcare professions.
5. Offer rural and hardship incentives to retain talent in underserved areas.
6. Establish a long-term national healthcare workforce plan with accurate manpower data and projected needs.
7. Reduce bureaucratic fragmentation by giving the Health Ministry stronger control over recruitment and workforce planning.

Healthcare reform cannot be selective. If the government continues with inconsistent policies, Malaysia risks crippling its own public health system through preventable talent loss. A nation that fails to value its pharmacists will ultimately fail its patients.

Dato’ Dr Mah Hang Soon
MCA Deputy President

22 April 2026

-MCA Comm-