Women Focus More On Beauty Than Health, Says Minister

KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 30 (Bernama) -- Women in Malaysia are focusing more on beauty and life full of excitement as compared to personal health, Women, Family and Community Development Minister Shahrizat Abdul Jalil said. As such, she said the women also had the tendency to ignore various aspects of healthcare, including in practising healthy lifestyle, healthy diet and exercising. Shahrizat, who is also Wanita Umno chief, said being busy with household chores or careers should not be an excuse for women to ignore personal healthcare. "Women must be in good health, physically and mentally, so that they will be able to discharge their duties as a mother and a wife," she said when opening the Health Carnival organised by Wanita Umno in conjunction with the 2011 Umno General Assembly here Wednesday. The United Malays National Organisation,(abbreviated as UMNO) is Malaysia's largest political party; a founding member of the National Front coalition, which has played a dominant role in Malaysian politics since independence. The UMNO emphasizes as its foundation the struggle to uphold the aspirations of Malay nationalism and the dignity of race, religion and country. The carnival, which is the eighth in its series, was organised with the cooperation the Malaysian Health Promotion Board (MySihat), Melaka Stroke Foundation and the Malaysian Aids Council. Meanwhile, MySihat Programme Planning and Evaluation Division director Arfah Mahani Amran said they had always encouraged non-governmental organisations (NGOs) to organise promotional health campaign for the people nationwide. She said 268 NGOs had applied for funds amounting to RM4 million from MySihat to promote healthy lifestyle since 2007. (US$1=RM3.17) --BERNAMA