THE Ministry of Health (MOH) has approved full relocation allowance claims for medical officers posted to Sabah and Sarawak, moving to safeguard healthcare personnel welfare and facilitate cross-regional placements.
In a statement released on Sunday night, the ministry affirmed that the strategic approval—secured with the Ministry of Finance and the Public Service Department (JPA)—fully resolves moving cost issues starting with the 2025 permanent appointment cohort and continuing for 2026 onwards.
The clarification follows viral social media posts alleging that several doctors faced financial hurdles when reporting for duty in Sabah and Sarawak due to restricted relocation claims.
The ministry stated that the government is deeply concerned about the financial challenges faced by healthcare personnel, noting that the approval ensures moving costs no longer pose a burden to medical staff accepting cross-regional postings.
It added that through the approval of the Ministry of Finance and JPA, the issue of moving cost claims has been fully resolved starting with the cohort of permanent officers appointed in 2025, with the same benefits secured for 2026 appointments and beyond as proof of the government's commitment to valuing their service and sacrifice.
The entitlement aligns with the 20 MADANI Government Initiatives for the Welfare of KKM Staff, which permits officers transitioning to permanent status to submit full relocation allowance claims.
Addressing broader staffing challenges, KKM highlighted that doctor shortages and placement imbalances across health facilities are being systematically addressed after JPA granted the ministry autonomy to independently manage and distribute posts.
The ministry noted that through this pivotal step, the issue can be mitigated in phases, alongside long-term measures including offering permanent appointments to 4,500 contract medical officers this year.
Furthermore, contract medical officers accepting permanent appointments are now required via the enhanced ePlacement system to select at least one placement option in Sabah, Sarawak, or Labuan to address localized shortages. Wait times for graduate medical training placement have also been drastically reduced from over 10 months to two months.
The ongoing execution of the 2026 welfare initiatives also aims to phase out contract doctor arrangements entirely by absorbing eligible personnel into permanent roles by 2028, involving a total of 18,755 permanent appointments across medical, pharmacy, and dental disciplines. - October 4, 2026
