I REFER to the report “Foreign nurses not best remedy” (The Star, April 10). The Health Ministry has projected a critical shortage of nurses – or a 60% deficit – by 2030. There has been a call to hire foreign nurses to address this deficit, but there are objections from some quarters.
Datin Dr Aishah Ali, a member of the Islamic Medical Association of Malaysia (Imam), was quoted as saying: “Malaysia is currently short of 6,000 nurses, and according to a 2024 survey, nurse turnover reached a catastrophic rate of 27.1% in 2021.”.