DR BOO Cheng Hau today said the Malaysian Medical Council (MMC) has failed to comply with the government’s health policy to place the public's health above politics.
The Johor DAP State Committee member said Datuk Dr Muhammad Radzi Abu Hassan who is the MMC president and health director-general should be advised to resign over his failure to uphold the law, to upgrade the standard of care by ensuring coexistence between the parallel pathway and local masters degree and giving exclusive parallel pathway right to one university - Universiti Teknologi Mara.
His statement comes after the Malaysian Qualifications Agency (MQA) said it is not directly involved in the controversy surrounding the registration of medical doctors who have obtained specialist qualifications through the “parallel pathway” training programme.
MQA chief executive officer Datuk Dr Mohammad Shatar Sabran said that the authority to accept or reject the registration and certification of medical practitioners, including medical specialists, lies with the MMC.
"Since MQA has denied its “direct involvement” with the MMC’s refusal to recognise the parallel pathway in cardiothoracic surgery, it is clear that the MMC should take on the full responsibility.
"The MMC's refusal to admit the four cardiothoracic surgeons to be registered as specialists in the country has led to a judicial review sought by the surgeons concerned while two of them have already been offered by other countries to serve as cardiothoracic surgeons," said Dr Boo.
He said there was no need for any amendments to the Medical Act 1971 if the health DG appreciated his powers and responsibilities to uphold the quality of the public health service rather than falling prey to politics.
"His (health DG) inaction has led to a judicial review being filed against the MMC and government and to coerce the government and parliament to amend the Medical Act to prevent such a precedent of non-compliance with a good government policy from happening again.
"Any civil servant including the health DG cum MMC president should toe the government’s policy line, he should encourage the coexistence and collaboration of both local universities' Master's programmes and overseas post-graduate to uplift our medical education and postgraduate training to the international level.
"No one is above the law including civil servants at all levels, ministers and ordinary citizens. No one can make his own rules and regulations above the mandate of Parliament by legislation," he added. - The Vibes, June 10, 2024
