KUCHING: Members of the public, especially in Kuching, are urged to do a health check-up at least once a year to avoid cases of non-communicable diseases (NCD) such as diabetes, high blood pressure and high cholesterol.
Deputy Minister for Utilities and Telecommunications (Utility) Datuk Dr Abdul Rahman Junaidi said it is important for individuals to carry out regular health screenings to ensure the body is healthy.
“Statistics reported by the Ministry of Health (MoH) states that one out of five adults Malaysians suffer from diabetes.
“For high blood pressure, three out of 10 adults in Malaysia face high blood pressure while four out of 10 adults have high cholesterol levels,” he said.
He said this when speaking on behalf of Sarawak Deputy Premier Datuk Seri Dr Sim Kui Hian at the conclusion of the Healthy Malaysia National Agenda (ANMS) Kuching 2022 programme at Mydin Bandar Baru Samariang, yesterday.
He added that the increase in the number of NCDs is due to unhealthy eating habits or culture.
“Diabetes is often associated with consuming (excessive) foods containing high sugar, while high blood pressure is associated with salt and cholesterol levels due to greasy and fried foods.
“We face this problem every day because of our eating habits. That is why health check-up is important to be carried out at least once a year,” he said.
Meanwhile, Dr Sim in his text of speech read by Dr Abdul Rahman, said that as the Minister of Public Health, Housing and Local Government he supported the ANMS introduced by the MoH.
“Therefore, I also call for all government departments and agencies, whether federal and state, private agencies, NGOs and all residents of Kuching to support this agenda.
“ANMS aims to make Malaysians healthy and prosperous by practicing a healthy lifestyle such as doing physical fitness activities, eating healthily, dealing with stress wisely, not smoking and keeping the environment clean.
“We want all people to be healthy physically and mentally,” he added.
