Malaysia's Kuantan City Council Gets WHO Recognition For Helping The Vulnerable

KUANTAN (Pahang, Malaysia), Nov 17 (Bernama) – The Kuantan City Council (MBK) of Malaysian state Pahang has done the country proud by receiving a World Health Organisation (WHO) Healthy Cities Recognition for offering help to the vulnerable during the COVID-19 pandemic. The announcement of the winner in the ‘Reaching and Engaging Vulnerable Groups for Their Care and Protection During the COVID-19 Pandemic’ category was made on Nov 5 during the virtual 9th Global Conference of the Alliance for Healthy Cities (AFHC 2021). Pahang Chief Minister, Wan Rosdy Wan Ismail, shared the good news in a media statement Tuesday, adding that Kuching (the capital city of east Malaysian state Sarawak) also received a special WHO Healthy Cities Recognition. “MBK received the award for its humanitarian project ‘Kuantan Prihatin Ke Atas Kumpulan Rentan Bandar’, which reached out to three disadvantaged urban communities. “They are the hardcore poor, B40 (low-income) renters and those living in the city centre,” he said, while adding that Kuantan mayor, Hamdan Hussin, accepted the award. There were seven Healthy Cities Recognition categories and winners included Songpa, South Korea (for combatting air pollution), Shangrao, China (for healthy ageing strategies) and Obu, Japan (for promoting physical fitness). Elaborating on the MBK project, Wan Rosdy said 11,625 people were helped through food aid (6,679), financial aid (2,179), health assistance (1,907), educational assistance (730) and job placement (75). He said the project’s success was also due to support from the state government, government-linked companies (GLCs), non-governmental organisations (NGOs) and more. Wan Rosdy said he hopes the recognition will lead to more accomplishments by MBK. -- BERNAMA