MALAYSIAN GOVERNMENT TO COMBAT NON-COMMUNICABLE DISEASES

By Zakaria Abdul Wahab

SINGAPORE, July 22 (Bernama) -- Malaysia plans to bring the entire
government to the fore in combating non-communicable diseases which are
increasingly becoming a serious problem to the country.

Health Minister Liow Tiong Lai said Thursday, the country was taking
the "whole of government" approach to ensure the success of its newly-developed
National Strategic Plan on Non-Communicable Diseases.

Speaking at a two-day 10th Asean Health Ministers Meeting here, he said
Malaysia was seriously looking to address the problem of non-communicable
diseases, and was now in the midst of establishing a cabinet committee on the
matter.

Liow said non-communicable diseases were a problem which not only involved
his ministry but also many other ministries, agencies and stakeholders, such as
transportation, housing and recreational activities, and work environment.

The minister said changing lifestyle patterns had contributed to the
increasing burden of non-communicable diseases.

Liow said the number of the elderly in the region was also growing due to
increasing lifespan, following remarkable improvement in the socio-economic
status and better access to health care.

He said governments must address these challenging problems by investing a
lot more in disease prevention and health promotional activities to ensure a
healthy nation of the future.

Investing in maintaining the physical and mental well-being of the elderly
would ensure the graceful aging of the population so that they might become
productive individuals with a high quality of life, he added.

Liow also told the meeting that Malaysia planned to reform its health care
system through its One Care concept which would ensure horizontal integration
between public and private sectors and vertical integration between the various
levels of care within the health care system to address the increasing health
care costs.

This new concept would be able to strengthen the primary health care
services and create competitiveness in health care provision, be it in public
and private, as well as improve efficiency and reduce costs while maintaining
the quality of care, he added.

Liow also shared the Malaysian experience in utilising information
technology to bring health care services to every corner of the country, such as
establishing tele-primary care services in rural areas, tele-radiology,
tele-pathology and tele-cardiology.
-- BERNAMA


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