KOTA KINABALU: Sabah will consider a proposal to introduce a special initiative to help address challenges facing the state healthcare sector, says Datuk Seri Hajiji Noor.
The Chief Minister said the proposal warranted consideration as there were still many healthcare-related challenges in the state that needed to be dealt with.
He said while sporting activities help people lead healthy and active lifestyles, which can contribute to remedying healthcare challenges, there was still much to be done in this sense.
Recently, Senator Dr RA Lingeshwaran proposed 11 immediate measures to strengthen the healthcare workforce in Sabah and Sarawak, including better incentives, career pathways and family support.
“The government strongly encouraged sporting activities, including the annual National Sports Day celebrations, to ensure that people continued to lead healthy and active lifestyles,” said Hajiji when officiating the Sabah State-Level National Sports Day 2026 celebration, Saturday (Oct 10).
“However, there is still much to be done, and for this reason, the state government will consider a proposal to introduce a special initiative to help address the challenges facing the healthcare sector in Sabah,” he said.
He said the National Sports Day was not merely an annual event or a programme that brought people together for a day of sporting activities, but a movement aimed at making sports, fitness and active living part of people's daily lives.
Hajiji said sports played an important role in building a healthy, active and productive society, while also serving as a platform to unite people regardless of age, race, religion, background or social standing.
He said Sabah had set a target of 651,610 participants for this year's National Sports Day celebrations, which would require the commitment and cooperation of all parties.
He said extending the state-level celebrations to districts such as Tuaran this year was a positive approach as it allowed more people at the grassroots level to experience the excitement of National Sports Day.
Hajiji said celebrations were also being held in five other zones across the state, namely Tawau, Sandakan, Beaufort, Kudat and Keningau, to ensure that communities throughout Sabah could benefit from the programme.
“The true success of efforts to cultivate a sporting culture should not be measured solely by the number of programmes organised or participants recorded, but by the extent to which people made physical activities and sports a regular part of their lives,” he said.
He hoped that National Sports Day would serve as a catalyst for more inclusive and accessible sports and recreational programmes capable of attracting participation from people of all ages.
The platform should also be used to identify promising young athletes at the district level who could be groomed to compete at state, national and international levels, added Hajiji.
