PETALING JAYA: The Health Ministry will hold a townhall session with Hartal Doktor Kontrak and junior doctors on Feb 22, says Dr Zaliha Mustafa (pic).
“The arrangements have been made, insyaAllah will be held with @HKontrak,” the Health Minister said in a tweet on Thursday (Feb 16).
“The townhall session will involve other junior doctors (as well),” she added.
The two hour session will be held from 4pm-6pm at the ministry in Putrajaya.
Her announcement came after repeated demands from the Hartal Doktor Kontrak group and other healthcare movements for a meeting with her to hear out the grouses of aggrieved healthcare workers and resolve the problems surrounding the healthcare system particularly the contract system and workforce.
Hartal Doktor Kontrak said on Feb 16 that it had been 76 days since Dr Zaliha’s appointment as minister of health and no meeting had been held with contract doctors.
“On the contrary, her predecessor Khairy Jamaluddin was appointed as Minister of Health on Aug 21, 2021, and the first meeting between Khairy and Hartal was on Sept 21, 2021,” it said in a Facebook post on Feb 16.
On Feb 16, Dr Zaliha posted a TikTok video urging healthcare workers who were planning a strike to come forward and meet her to discuss a solution.