Malaysian Director-General of Health “should keep out of politics”

Kuala Lumpur — An opinion piece in a local newspaper website on Monday (April 20) addressed rumours circulating in the country on the possibility of the Director-General of Health, Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah, eventually being appointed Health Minister.

The writer, Abdul Aziz Abdullah, explains in the malaymail.com that he believes that Dr Noor should remain as the Director-General of Health because he is “very professional and competent” at his job.

The writer goes on to share that he believes that once someone is elected as a politician, he begins to change due to the need to conform to the wishes and beliefs of his party.

He adds that it is also dependent on whether he is part of a political party in the first place, or on the contrary, he must “follow the dictates of the ruling party (if he is not)”.

In his opinion, if Dr Noor becomes Minister of Health, he will end up losing his independence as a leader, and his medical and science-based decisions will become more politically driven. He muses that when politics gets involved with medicine, things “may not be to the benefit of the general public”, as there is a need to comply with the mandate of the political ruling party.

Many Malaysians already believe that the Director-General of Health is doing a stellar job, especially during the ongoing Covid-19 crisis. The writer also thinks that his performance during this pandemic is proof enough that his directives and leadership have been to the benefit of the public, and not that of the governing body, further explaining “as it should rightly be!”

The writer ends by saying that this should be reason enough for Dr Noor to remain where he is currently and not to become minister, precisely because he is exactly the kind of man that Malaysia needs to get it through this very serious health crisis.

And to further drive forward his way of thinking, he also shares that he believes that should the World Health Organization (WHO) eventually need a new Secretary-General, Dr Noor should actually be considered for that position. /TISG