The doctors are on contracts for a set period and say their treatment is worse than that of permanent government staff
\nSUNGAI BULOH
\nHundreds of junior doctors at state-run Malaysian hospitals staged walkouts Monday demanding better conditions as the country faces its worst coronavirus outbreak yet.
\nDressed in black and holding signs with slogans including \u201cequal pay, equal rights, equal opportunity\u201d and \u201cwe are your future specialists,\u201d they protested at medical facilities nationwide.
\nThe doctors are on contracts for a set period and say their treatment is worse than that of permanent government staff, even as they have found themselves on the frontline of the fight against COVID-19.
\nThey complain of a lack of job security, poor benefits and that very few are eventually offered permanent positions.
\nWe want \u201cequal rights, to be a permanent doctor,\u201d said a medic at a government hospital that treats virus patients outside Kuala Lumpur.
\n\u201cWe would definitely not be here if we were treated fairly… we should be appreciated for what we do,\u201d the doctor, who spoke on condition of anonymity, told reporters. The medic was among dozens who took part in the action at the hospital, which lasted around half an hour. Local media reported that several hundred participated across the country, but some doctors complained they were threatened by police and senior hospital staff in a bid to halt the protests.
\nThose involved said senior doctors took over their duties before they walked out, to ensure that patient care was not jeopardized.
\nMalaysia is currently battling its most serious outbreak, driven by the highly contagious Delta variant. Officials have reported over one million cases and about 8,000 deaths.
\nThere are over 23,000 doctors on these contracts in Malaysia \u2014 about 45 percent of the total medical doctors in the public health care system, according to official estimates.
\nLast week, the government said it would extend junior doctors\u2019 contracts for up to four years in a bid to forestall the protests.
\nBut they stopped short of offering permanent jobs, and the organizers of Monday\u2019s walkout criticized the move as \u201cshort-sighted.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The doctors are on contracts for a set period and say their treatment is worse than that of permanent government staff SUNGAI BULOH Hundreds of junior doctors at state-run Malaysian hospitals staged walkouts Monday demanding better conditions as the country faces its worst coronavirus outbreak yet. Dressed in black and holding signs with slogans including […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-206109","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-world"},"yoast_head":"\n