KUALA LUMPUR: The amendment to the Medical Act 1971 which seeks to improve the provisions relating to the registration of medical practitioners as specialists has received the Dewan Rakyat nod, today.
The bill was unanimously passed via voice vote after it was tabled for the second and third reading by Health Minister Datuk Seri Dr Dzulkefly Ahmad and debated by 20 members of parliament.
During his winding-up speech, Dr Dzulkefly also gave assurance that the amendment to the Act would come into force as soon as possible.
He also assured that there would be no delays in enforcement, as what had happened to the amendment to Act in 2012.
"When asked about the timeline for the enforcement, I understand that the amendment (to the Act) in 2012 took five years to be enforced and to establish the Medical Malaysian Council (MMC) and National Specialist Register (NSR) responsible for specialist registration.
"However, my commitment is that the amendment (this time around) will be promptly enforced, without another five-year delay.
"We will also focus on determining who is eligible (responsible) to expedite the gazettement of the Act," he said in the Dewan Rakyat, today.
On Monday (July 15), Dr Dzulkefly said the amendment to the Act was aimed to increase the number of medical specialists, whether through the parallel pathway programme (PPP) or the local Master's medicine programme.
He said the amendment was also to enhance the quality of medical specialists produced through both pathways to specialisation.
He also said the amendment would recognise the ministry as one of the institutions capable of providing specialised training, similar to local higher learning institutions.
The amendment to the Act was also one of the government's solutions in overcoming the problem of graduates from a programme who are not listed in the NSR.
This comes after MMC's refusal to recognise qualifications from certain colleges, which subsequently sparked controversies.