Parti Sosialis Malaysia demands for a moratorium on private hospitals for the next five years, in our call to Save Our Public Health Care System.
This is because, in the process of rapid expansion, the private healthcare sector is poaching healthcare workforce from our public health care system.
“Poaching” of healthcare workforce refers to the practice by high-income countries or private healthcare systems of aggressively recruiting healthcare professionals from areas that already face critical shortages. This practice raises significant ethical concerns due to the negative impact on our public healthcare system.
Poaching of medical specialists is not new. It is more politely referred to as medical brain drain. It has been reported worldwide, especially in reference to developed countries poaching healthcare personnel from low- and middle-income countries. There are many reports of poaching in the UK, New Zealand and African countries.
This has resulted in a global health workforce crisis, according to the World Health Organisation (WHO), causing poorer countries to lose their healthcare workforce to richer countries. (WHO Health workforce: The health workforce crisis 24 June 2009 https://www.who.int/news-room/questions-and-answers/item/q-a-on-the-health-workforce-crisis)
In Malaysia, similarly, we face a crisis of healthcare workforce internally within our public system. Not unlike the global health workforce crisis, our “poorer” public healthcare system is losing its healthcare workforce to the wealthy private healthcare sector.
The Medical Brain Drain
Health Care Asia Daily on 30th June 2025 reported that a total of 6,919 health care personnel under the Ministry of Health resigned and moved to the private sector, between 2020 and 2024, including a total of 2,141 nurses, quoting Minister of Health, Datuk Seri Dr Dzulkefly Ahmad. He also said that according to a 2024 report, the shortage of nurses in Malaysia is projected to reach almost 60 percent by 2030.
Johor alone needs about 1,700 nurses for its existing healthcare facilities and new projects, said state Health and Environment Committee chairman Ling Tiang Soon in Nov, 2025. He informed the State Legislative Assembly that the total number of positions in the state’s health sector was 29,731, with 4,648 vacancies, of which 2,547 positions were filled through the appointment of contract officers. (Star, 17 Nov)
ACUTE Shortage of Specialists in Public Health Care System
A survey done in 2024 by the Malaysian Medical Association (MMA) found that only 5 percent of Malaysia’s public healthcare facilities had adequate manpower. (Star, 27 May, 2025)
Shortages of specialists in public hospitals are especially acute. According to the Academy of Medicine of Malaysia, the specialist-to-population ratio is 4 to 10,000, whereas the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) average was 14.3 to 10,000 in 2018. (CNA, Aug 15, 2025).
In 2023, it was reported that only 15.7 percent of doctors in Malaysia’s public sector are specialists. MMA President 2024, Dr Kalwinder Singh Khaira, said this was low. (CNA, Aug 2025).
In developed countries such as Singapore, Japan, Canada, the United States, Australia and the United Kingdom, the proportion of specialist doctors compared to non-specialist doctors ranges between 41% and 60%. (Ismail H. How many doctors do we need in the public sector? a guide to human resource planning and specialist training. Malays J Med Sci. 2023;30(2):1–7. https://doi.org/10.21315/mjms2023.30.2.1)
Medical Development Division reported that we are short of 10,798 specialists in public hospitals in 2025. (Code Blue, July 7, 2025) and that we need between 18,912 and 23,979 specialists in 2025 and 2030 respectively (crude population-based estimates) if we are to have at least 30% specialists among total public-sector doctors. (Ismail H, 2023)
That is only 30 %, not the 41–60% needed to deliver quality care in developed countries.
We already face an acute shortage now. What will happen when even more private hospitals rapidly expand, especially to cater to medical tourism? It has been reported that private health services are the 8th fastest-growing service industry. (MIDF, 2025)
HEALTHCARE WORKFORCE
The number of healthcare staff in the public sector grew from 98,973 in 2015 to 110,708 in 2022 (12% growth), as reported by MIDF Research (May 2025).
Meanwhile, in the private healthcare sector, staff numbers grew from 132,082 to 167,690 (27% growth) over the same period.
Yes, many are trained by the private healthcare industry themselves. And these are employment opportunities.
However, PSM is concerned that many of these workers in private healthcare were poached from the public healthcare system.
COMPARISON OF HEALTHCARE WORKFORCE TO WORKLOAD
The public healthcare sector handles between 64% and 94% of the total major healthcare workload when compared to the private sector. (Ismail H, 2023)
There are now reports that even the T20 are turning to public hospitals due to the unaffordable healthcare costs in private hospitals for local patients, even though these costs may be affordable for medical tourists.
Number of Beds in Public Healthcare
In public hospitals, the number of beds increased 10.9%, from 45,087 in 2015 to 49,998 in 2022 (MIDF 2025) which is still grossly inadequate. Anyone who has walked into a public hospital in Malaysia would have seen many patients placed in corridors, on stretchers and in wheelchairs because there are simply not enough beds.
Rapid Expansion of Medical Tourism
CIMB Research reported that total private hospital bed capacity in Malaysia stood at 18,779 beds in 2023, and is expected to increase to 23,000–24,000 beds by 2028 as new facilities are commissioned and existing ones expanded, aided by tax exemptions. (The Star, Oct 5, 2025)
A key factor driving this growth is healthcare tourism (HT) reports the CIMB Research.
Private hospital bed capacity is forecasted to grow at a compounded annual growth rate of 4% to 5% between 2023 and 2028, supported by multiple expansion projects currently underway or planned.
In 2022, Malaysia had 207 private hospitals (up from 183 in 2015), compared to 160 government hospitals (148 under MOH and 12 non-MOH), a minor increase from 152.
We already have more private hospitals than public hospitals in Malaysia. Do we really need even more?
Where will the additional healthcare workforce for these expanding private hospitals come from especially medical officers and specialists??
What has gone wrong in our national social engineering and policy foresight that has resulted in such an unequal distribution of healthcare workforce despite the massive workload in the public healthcare system?
Are we planning our healthcare system for the wellbeing and dignity of our rakyat, or for more and more profits?
Threat to Universal Health Coverage
The resulting overcrowding, long waiting times, inadequate beds and overworked healthcare workforce with clearly insufficient doctors, nurses and other healthcare personnel in public hospitals pose a serious threat to our Universal Health Coverage.
Policy makers cannot continue to ignore the contradiction between claiming to uphold UHC and simultaneously promoting medical tourism.
ACCESS TO QUALITY HEALTH SERVICES FOR OUR RAKYAT
Universal Health Coverage (UHC) means that all people have access to the full range of quality health services they need, when and where they need them, without financial hardship. This includes the full continuum of essential health services: promotion, prevention, treatment, rehabilitation and palliative care.
While PSM acknowledges that the Ministry of Health is implementing various measures to address the acute shortage of healthcare workforce including improving working conditions and increasing training, the problem of poaching of experienced healthcare workers caused by the drastic expansion of the private healthcare sector, especially through the commodification of healthcare in the name of medical tourism profits, is not being addressed.
“The unequal distribution of the global and local health workforce is exacerbated by mass emigration of doctors and nurses fleeing from poor working and living conditions, and by the increasing recruitment activities of affluent nations and rich private corporations.” (Eszter Kollar, A. Buyx. Ethics and policy of medical brain drain: a review. Swiss Med Wkly. 2013;143:w13845)
FUNDAMENTAL RIGHTS TO HIGHEST STANDARD OF HEALTHCARE
The World Health Organisation General Assembly attended by our Health Minister Datuk Seri Dr Dzulkefly Ahmad on 27 May 2025 reaffirmed that the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of health is a fundamental human right, without distinction of race, religion, political belief, economic or social condition. It recognised that access to health and care services is a critical component of this right and a cornerstone of human dignity and wellbeing.
Therefore, it is urgent that policymakers uphold the fundamental rights of our rakyat to enjoy the highest standard of healthcare by taking immediate action to impose a moratorium on private hospitals for the next five years, in order to save our public healthcare service.
Stop the brain drain! Stop the poaching!
We need more Healthcare Workforce for Our Public Healthcare System!
We demand a Moratorium on New Private Hospitals!
Prevent Brain Drain from Public Hospitals!
Uphold our Fundamental Rights to the Highest Standard of Healthcare!
Save our Public Healthcare Service! Sign our Petition!
Come Walk with us on the 12th Dec 2025!
Dr Cecilia Anthonysamy
Member of Save our Public Healthcare Campaign,
Parti Sosialis Malaysia
10th Dec 2025
Reference :
Ismail H. How many doctors do we need in the public sector?: a guide to human resource planning and specialist training. Malays J Med Sci. 2023;30(2):1–7. https://doi.org/10.21315/mjms2023.30.2.1
Boo Su-Lyn Public Sector Short Of Nearly 11,000 Specialist Doctors: MOH Data. Code Blue | 7 July 2025 https://codeblue.galencentre.org/2025/07/public-sector-short-of-nearly-11000-specialist-doctors-moh-data/
J Meirion Thomas.Poaching doctors from abroad is unethical. https://www.theguardian.com/society/2022/jun/10/poaching-doctors-from-abroad-is-unethical
Lyndon Keene, Research Advisor, Association of Salaried Medical Specialists. Creeping privatization . Analysis of trends of planned care provision in Aotearoa New Zealand. Sept 2023
Seventy-eighth World Health Assembly. Accelerating action on the global health and care workforce by 2030 Seventh plenary meeting, 27 May 2025
World Health Organisation. Universal Health Coverage https://www.who.int/health-topics/universal-health-coverage#tab=tab_1
The Star Monday, 27 May 2024 Only 5% of public healthcare facilities have adequate manpower, says MMA https://www.thestar.com.my/news/nation/2024/05/27/only-5-of-public-healthcare-facilities-have-adequate-manpower-says-mma
CNA insider 15 Aug 2025 We’re unable to achieve that dream’: Why Malaysia is losing its doctors https://www.channelnewsasia.com/cna-insider/malaysia-doctor-shortage-low-pay-84-hour-working-week-5294496
MIDF Research Thematic report 5May 2025 , Malaysia Healthcare. Bedrock of Malaysia