Policies on preventing NCDs given emphasis
PUTRAJAYA: Health policies aimed at preventing non-communicable disease (NCD), especially among schoolchildren, will given priority.
Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi said despite an allocation of RM27 billion for the Health Ministry under the 2018 Budget, the public health system would be stressed in the long run if policies for disease prevention were not given emphasis.
“The escalated costs of private healthcare have seen the public turning to government hospitals for treatment, meaning a significant chunk of the budget is going to an area where prevention is a better option,” said Zahid.
He said this after chairing the Cabinet committee on Healthy Living Conditions here yesterday.
The Cabinet committee comprises all ministers, deputy ministers, ministry secretary-generals, the Chief Secretary to the Government and representatives of related agencies.
Zahid said NCDs such as diabetes, hypertension, hypercholestrolemia and obesity, rampant among schoolchildren, were diseases that could be prevented through awareness and policies that focused on the importance of healthy lifestyles and living conditions, beginning in schools.
The committee, he said, discussed 13 policies to be announced soon, aimed at promoting active and healthy lifestyles among schoolchildren as a means to prevent the rise of NCDs.
“Intervention, especially in a school setting, is important to encourage active lifestyles and healthy living from a younger age, so as to develop a generation that grows into healthy adults.”
Meanwhile, Health Department director-general Datuk Noor Hisham Abdullah said a 23year-old man was found guilty by the court in Petaling Jaya for the illegal sale and promotion of tobacco products to minors using his Facebook account.
The man was said to have sold packets of cigarettes for as low as RM11 per packet. Various brands were seized from his premises in Petaling Jaya on Oct 19.
Noor Hisham said the Health Department urged the public to be wary of such operations catering to the youth, particularly making tobacco products accessible to minors.
Noor Hisham advised the public to adhere to the extension of deadline of the moratorium for the registration of medical devices to June 30.
He said there would be no further extensions to the deadline, and action would be taken against those found to be operating unregistered medical devices would see action taken against them under the Medical Devices Act 2012 (Act 737).
The import, export and sale of medical devices not registered under the Act will also be prohibited from June 30 onwards.