KUALA LUMPUR: The Health Ministry needs to resolve "certain issues" before the amendment bill to the Medical Act 1971 can be implemented.
Health Minister Datuk Seri Dr Dzulkefly Ahmad said today that among the issues were judicial reviews previously filed by four Parallel Pathway trainees from the Royal College of Surgeons Edinburgh after failing to register with the National Specialist Register.
He also said four qualifications had not yet been included in Schedule 4 of the bill.
"The bill is expected to be tabled in the Dewan Negara this week and it will be implemented soon.
"We have some outstanding issues and we are taking immediate action on them."
He said this at a press conference after launching the Cardiovascular Risk Reduction Clinic (CRRC) at the National Heart Institute (IJN) today.
Earlier, the Dewan Rakyat passed the Medical (Amendment) Bill 2024, aimed at improving provisions for the approval process and specialist expertise of medical practitioners.
The amendment to the Medical Act 1971 aims to empower the Malaysian Medical Council to recognise qualifications and specialist training to register medical practitioners and specialists.
Dzulkefly said the bill would ensure improvements in the quality and quantity of medical specialists produced by the country, whether through undergraduate programmes or parallel pathways.