By Alen Kee
State level KOSPEN launched to curb non-communicable diseases
SEMPORNA: ‘Komuniti Sihat, Perkasa Negara’ (KOSPEN), a collaborative effort between the Rural and Regional Development Ministry and the Health Ministry using the Blue Ocean strategy approach, was launched in Sabah yesterday.
The Community Development Department (KEMAS), an agency under the Rural and Regional Development Ministry, will undertake to carry out KOSPEN on behalf of the ministry.
Minister of Rural and Regional Development Datuk Seri Mohd Shafie Haji Apdal, and Health Minister Datuk Seri Dr. S. Subramaniam, who launched the program for Sabah at Kampung Terusan Tengah and SMK Pulau Bum-Bum in Pulau Bum Bum yesterday, said in a joint statement that the government views seriously the increase in non-communicable diseases (NCD) in the country.
The main NCD that need to be given attention are diabetes, cardiovascular disease including hypertension and stroke, cancer and chronic respiratory disease, as the country currently has a prevalent NCD risk factor which is the highest in Asean.
KOSPEN is an initiative of public health service transformation in preventing NCD through community involvement in public health program with the collaboration of existing government mechanisms at the grassroots level and the implementation of an aggressive approach through the establishment of health volunteers from among the people all over the country.
In the KOSPEN initiative, KEMAS is a strategic partner and facilitator, while health volunteers will be identified and will act as a functioning unit in villages throughout the country.
A total of 6 million adult Malaysians would be reached as a target group for KOSPEN implementation.
Among the main objectives of KOSPEN are to establish a healthy and productive community through the culture and practice of healthy living abreast with self-increasing potential; stabilizing the level of socio-economic and sustainable development; to widen the program among the community in order to sustain a healthy community free from NCD; to add value to the program and activities under KEMAS through basic education on prevention and easy detention procedure on NCD risk and to create trained health volunteer among the community members.
The program targets changes in the practice and community culture towards a healthy lifestyle with focus on healthy food, no smoking, active living, weight management and knowing the status of self-health through early detection of NCD risk.
The initiative targets the involvement of 50,000 active health volunteers to be created in three years. KEMAS involvement and collaboration will help in the achievement complemented by the health ministry ability and activity in health screening and NCD risk intervention.
KEMAS will act as an agent of change to formulate healthy living among the community through the establishment of health volunteers at community level.
In Sabah, there are 2,610 trained volunteers involving 3,112 villages under the Sabah KEMAS supervision for 2014.
The national level launching of KOSPEN was held on February 13, 2014 in Segamat, Johor, while yesterday the Sabah state level launch was held at Pulau Bum Bum.