The government will be upgrading all 2,000 rural clinics in the country to Type-7 health clinics in stages, said Deputy Health Minister Datuk Seri Dr Hilmi Yahaya.

He said this was to enable rural people to get access to better outpatient services as currently rural clinics could only provide midwifery services.

"However, this will take some time because of the costs involved and land acquisition matters," he told reporters after visiting flood victims here Tuesday.

He added that with the upgrade, rural people would not need to go far for outpatient services as a doctor would be available. -- Bernama