KUALA LUMPUR: Tun Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, who was Malaysia’s fifth prime minister, has dementia, revealed his son-in-law and Health Minister Khairy Jamaluddin.
He said the revelation was made after discussing the matter with other family members as many people had been asking about the health condition of Abdullah, who is also affectionately called Pak Lah.
“Pak Lah indeed has dementia and his condition is deteriorating that he can’t even say out the names of family members as he doesn’t remember. He may recognise them, he appears to but he has reached the level of having difficulty to speak.
“I asked my wife, my mother-in-law and brother-in-law just now. I said to them that there are people who are aware of his (Abdullah) condition while others aren’t, so could I reveal this (to the public)?” he said at a media conference here today.
Khairy had earlier launched the Clinical Practice Guidelines (CPG) on Management of Dementia (Third Edition) and CPG on Management of Schizophrenia (Second Edition).
“I’ve never shared this (information) before. Many of you may wonder where the fifth prime minister of Malaysia is. Dementia is a very…very cruel condition because the body is there but the mind isn’t.
“So for family members, caregivers, it’s a very difficult situation because you see them there but they’re not there. I’ve seen my father-in-law deteriorating over the years, so you don’t see him in public anymore as the dementia has deteriorated to the point where he cannot function normally anymore.
“He doesn’t remember my name and even my wife’s name. The only reason I know that he recognises me is because there is a flicker in his eyes when I come to visit him.
“Otherwise, I don’t know whether he registers that I’m there or not. Now for us, the management of his care is challenging. I see how my mother-in-law struggles,” said Khairy, adding that his father-in-law is wheelchair-bound.
“There are good days but increasingly, there are more bad days,” he said.
Khairy also said in his tweet today that it has been challenging for the whole family to see the deterioration of Pak Lah’s cognitive function.
“Some people are aware but many are not. The family has decided to openly share this partly to shine a light on dementia and cognitive impairment,” he said on his Twitter.
At the media conference, Khairy said the family was however fortunate to get professional caregivers to come in as those with deteriorating dementia needed constant round-the-clock care for their own safety.
“Imagine the people who are not able to do so. Dementia does not discriminate. It’s not a condition for people who are well-off. It can affect anybody.
“Not everyone can afford this (professional help) or to put their loved ones in a care home or send them away. They still want them around and there’s nothing wrong with that.
“I think it’s timely and it (today’s event) resonated with me because in developing the health white paper, we have started talking about empowering and investing in community domiciliary care as well,” he said. – BERNAMA
