Malaysia faces chronic shortage of rehab specialists

KUALA LUMPUR: There are fewer than half of the recommended number of rehabilitation physicians in Malaysia.
University Malaya (UM) rehabilitation medicine department head Prof Lydia Abdul Latif said there are only 82 rehab physicians in Malaysia, a country of 30 million.
The British recommended practice is to have 185 rehabilitation physicians serving a population similar to Malaysia's.
Lydia said this is because UM is the only university that offers rehab medicine training courses for medical students, and she hopes that the demand can be met in five to ten years' time.
Malaysian Association of Rehab Physicians (Marp) president Datuk Dr Zaliha Omar said, however, that this is no major cause of concern as rehab services are not just provided by physicians.
Zaliha said the Health Ministry developed a six-tier system comprising of hospital and clinic staff such as nurses and physiotherapists who can provide basic and intermediate level rehab services.
She is also the 10th International Society of Physical and Rehab Medicine (ISPRM) World Congress president.
Deputy Health Minister Datuk Seri Hilmi Yahaya said the 144 government hospitals throughout the country are equipped to offer rehab services although only 16 of them have rehab physicians.
Hilmi said 382 health clinics out of more than a thousand in the country also offer rehab services.
The opening of ISPRM was graced by its royal patron the Sultan of Perak, Sultan Nazrin Muizzuddin Shah who commended ISPRM for its social advocacy work.
Sultan Nazrin said the organisation's attempt to influence government policy throughout the world to benefit and ease the difficulties of the disabled community reflects a holistic approach to medicine.
"This reflects the holistic approach of ancient medicine, and integration to society is equally, if not more important than curing disabilities," he said during his royal address.
Sultan Nazrin added that many in Malaysia, especially those among the poor and rural communities, are still having difficulties accessing rehab services.