PUTRAJAYA, July 25 — Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim has directed the Health Ministry to expedite the filling of 4,352 vacancies, including for doctors, Communications Minister Datuk Fahmi Fadzil announced today.

Fahmi said the PM told the Health Ministry to ensure these vacancies are filled ahead of schedule and to cut through any bureaucracy that might cause delays.

“He (Anwar) feels that November is too long a wait,” Fahmi told a press conference at the Communications Ministry building here today.

When asked for a specific new timeline, Fahmi said the PM “wanted this to be done yesterday”.

According to Health Ministry’s projection in 2023, Malaysia's public healthcare sector will require 63,040 doctors by 2025 and 79,931 doctors by 2030.