Expert: Our health literacy likely to worsen due to fake news

PETALING JAYA: Malaysians’ health literacy is predicted to worsen, given the amount of misinformation being spread on social media, says the Health Ministry’s deputy director for the Non-Communicable Disease Section, Dr Feisul Idzwan Mustapha.

“The National Health and Morbidity Survey (NHMS) 2019 found that in general, 35.1% of adults have low health literacy, 28% have low health literacy in managing medical issues, 32.3% have low health literacy related to disease prevention activities, while 27% have low health literacy in health promotion and healthy lifestyle practices.

“No survey has been done since then, and the next NHMS for non-communicable diseases (NCD) risk factors, including health literacy, will be conducted in 2023.

“My personal feeling (on health literacy) – it probably worsened, with so much misinformation on social media,” said Dr Feisul, adding that health literacy was important as it provided one with the ability to find, understand and use health information and services needed for everyday decision-making.

“Low health literacy will cause difficulties in understanding and acting on medical information and instructions, protecting oneself against health risks, getting updates on health promotion, and living a healthy lifestyle.

“NCD patients, on the other hand, will face difficulty in adopting a healthy lifestyle. They won’t come forward for regular health screening, they will not come for regular follow-up at the clinic, have low adherence to medications prescribed and lifestyle modification advice – ultimately, (leading to) poor health outcomes,” he said.

Dr Feisul said the burden of NCD was high and continues to increase every year because Malaysians are not changing their behaviours to reduce exposure to NCD risk factors.

He said schools as well as parents had a role to play to improve the level of health literacy in the country.

“Education starts from young, and while schools have a role to play, I feel parents have a more important role to play – as role models.“Always ask questions of your healthcare providers on disease prevention and management, and over-the-counter and prescription medications, vitamins and supplements.

“Bring someone with you, or when you accompany someone to clinic/hospital – to help with taking notes and remember important information such as appointment dates and specific instructions for self-care,” he said.

Dr Feisul also emphasised the importance of verifying the authenticity of health-related information received, even from well-meaning friends and relatives, through social media platforms.