KOTA KINABALU: The Health Ministry is aiming to increase the number of family medicine specialists (FMS) as part of the healthcare transformation plan.

Its director-general Tan Sri Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah said the ministry was targeting about 8,000 FMS to be placed at the health clinics nationwide.

Starting with only 42 facilities with FMS in 1956, now there are more than 1,100 FMS including 700 from the Health Ministry.

"In the white paper on healthcare transformation, we will focus on frontliners or primary health care by strengthening family medicine in the ministry.  

"We think that if we invest in the frontline or in family medicine, we will be closer and better with the community and thus more cost effective in preventing (diseases) and giving early treatment to the community," he said, adding that there was ongoing training for such specialty at the local universities and overseas institutions.

He was speaking during a press conference after the opening of the 24th Family Medicine Scientific Conference at the Sabah International Convention Centre here.

Dr Noor Hisham said FMS functioned to provide holistic, preventive, curative, rehabilitative and palliative care for the community.

He said a health clinic should be available within 5km for every community and with the concept of decentralisation each facility should be manned by at least two FMS, house more types of medications and offers simple surgical and medical procedures.

As for having more specialists in Sabah, he said the ministry had been offering and prioritising the people of Sabah to take up specialisation courses.

"It takes at least four years to train doctors to become specialists. We advise and give opportunities for Sabahans to become specialists, because we need them in Sabah.

"If we send (personnel) from Peninsular Malaysia or other states, they will only be here temporarily.

"We train Sabahans so they will stay in Sabah. We also encourage Sabah (government) to give scholarships to Sabahans and Universiti Malaysia Sabah will offer postgraduate training, we are looking for a wide spectrum of specialists to be placed in Sabah in time to come."