nd
Forging Ahead: Bridging Gaps in Global Surgery
9-11th July 2025,
Hilton Kota Kinabalu, Sabah
Nik Azim bin Nik Abdullah
Dr. Nik Azim Bin Nik Abdullah is a Senior Consultant Hepatobiliary & General Surgeon and the Sarawak State Surgeon, currently heading Hepatobiliary Services and the Department of Surgery at Sarawak General Hospital.
Since 2009, he has served as a Consultant General and HPB Surgeon, leading the Department of Surgery and the Sarawak State Surgeon role.
A dedicated educator, Dr. Nik Azim is a Professor of Surgery, Lecturer, and Examiner at UNIMAS, and an Examiner for Malaysian Master Students in Surgery and the Malaysian Hepatobiliary Subspecialty. He also contributes to the organizing committees and examinations for the Intercollegiate Basic Surgical Skill Course (RCSI & UNIMAS) and the MRCS Examination (Edinburgh & UNIMAS).
His professional affiliations include a Life Membership with the Malaysian Medical Association (MMA), and membership in the College of Surgeons Malaysia, Academy of Medicine Malaysia, and the Malaysian Hepatobiliary Association. He is also registered with the National Specialist Register for General and Hepatobiliary Surgery.
Additionally, Dr. Nik Azim actively participates in surgical governance and patient safety, chairing PPLASH (Surgery Higher Education Society Hospital Umum Sarawak), and serving on committees for Safe Surgery Save Life and Global Surgery Surgical Services for the Ministry of Health Malaysia. He also chairs the Perioperative Post Basic Nurses and Perioperative Mortality Review for the Ministry of Health Malaysia.
Abstract
Ministry of Health hospitals are not only service providers to the public but also serve as training centres for our medical officers. In line with the Global Surgery initiative, we are committed to ensuring continuous training programmes for new doctors.
This approach will help enhance services in rural hospitals, reduce unnecessary patient transfers to tertiary centres, and instead, ensure that more trained doctors are deployed to rural areas. Beyond improving doctors’ skills and performance, this will also positively impact bed occupancy rates (BOR) and operating theatre (OT) utilisation.
Through Global Surgery, more people will have access to facilities capable of performing the essential Bellwether procedures – Caesarean Section, Laparotomy, and the treatment of Open Fractures.
Global Surgery is a vital component of Universal Health Coverage, as it aims to provide quality, safe, effective, and affordable emergency surgical and anaesthesia care to those in need, especially in rural communities.