GOMBAK: Collaborative efforts between the Health Ministry and related government agencies are needed to tackle health issues among the youth, says Health Minister Dr Zaliha Mustafa.
This would include working with the Education Ministry, she said.
“For example, obesity begins from the earlier years and carries over into adulthood.
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“The predisposing factors happen at a young age. We need more collaborative programmes to ensure our youth and population are healthy from a young age,” she told a press conference after launching the Madani Afiat programme here yesterday.
Madani Afiat, an initiative of the ministry, aims to create community awareness on the importance of health screenings to detect and prevent non-communicable diseases (NCD).
Another objective is to spread awareness on the programmes carried out by the ministry on targeted groups.
Full support: Dr Zaliha and Selangor Mentri Besar Datuk Seri Amirudin Shari launching the Madani Afiat programme in Gombak. — Bernama
Dr Zaliha said there was a higher prevalence for non-communicable diseases among those aged 40 and below.
“This is alarming for the ministry. We have to take a serious look at promotive healthcare to reduce hospital admissions,” she said, adding that this was in line with healthcare reforms listed in the Health White Paper.
“God willing, we will work on ensuring these initiatives are done to the best of our ability,” she said in response to a question to her statement last week that four in five adolescents are physically inactive, with two in three adolescents leading predominantly sedentary lifestyles.
On another matter, she said the recently launched Madani Medical Scheme had some 44,000 beneficiaries in Gombak alone.
“A total of 27 private clinics here are involved in the initiative with 757 residents from Gombak visiting the participating clinics over the past two weeks,” she said.
