Committee to fight NCD wants to address issue of physical inactivity

KUALA LUMPUR: The International Scientific Committee on Exercise Medicine comprising experts from various countries to regulate exercise medicine globally wants to address the issue of physical inactivity, which is a key risk factor for non-communicable diseases (NCDs).

Its chairperson, Datuk Seri Jessy Lai, said the scientific committee, which was formed in Langkawi last November, had shown keen interest in exercise medicine and wanted to formulate a new policy on its impact.

“Our role is to address the physical inactivity as it constitutes one of the four major causes of death by NCDs. Out of the 56.4 million global deaths recorded in 2015, 39.5 million or 70 per cent were due to NCDs,” she told Bernama.

On March 18, Lai represented Malaysia at the International Scientific Committee’s first meeting in Dubai, which was participated by representatives from more than 22 countries. Lai said exercise therapy had the potential of treating and preventing four main NCDs, namely hypertension, diabetes, obesity, and dyslipidemia.

The therapy, which has the potential to be an alternative remedy to conventional medicine in preventing NCDs, has proven to produce many positive changes to the human body if executed in the right manner, she said.

Lai said the committee had also disbursed research grants to various local and foreign universities to conduct research on exercise medicine, namely Universiti Sains Malaysia amounting to RM191,050, Universiti Malaya (RM12,000), Asia College of Exercise and Sports Medicine in Setia Alam (RM77,000) and Edith Cowan University in Perth, Australia (RM26,000).

Prior to this, the Health Ministry, had called for the setting up of an exercise clinic in all districts in the country to encourage behavioral change to reduce the risk of getting NCDs, which is on the rising trend.