KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 26 — Developments, especially those involving healthcare facilities, must be designed to be geriatric-ready or suited to the needs of the elderly as the country prepares to embrace ageing nation status by 2030, the Dewan Rakyat was told today.
Deputy Health Minister Datuk Lukanisman Awang Sauni said this need is being carried out through joint planning with several ministries to ensure recreational spaces, public amenities and facility designs are in line with the requirements of an increasingly ageing population.
“We cannot implement these policies and guidelines alone. That’s why we are planning with some ministries to ensure every development and plan provides suitable spaces for recreational activities.
“The same goes for other places, like malls, where we encourage them to use existing spaces to create areas that promote both shopping and healthy living,” he said during the question-and-answer session in the Dewan Rakyat today.
He was replying to a supplementary question from Dr Halimah Ali (PN-Kapar), who asked about the effectiveness of health campaigns that cannot be conducted by the ministry alone, but must instead be driven through the whole-of-nation concept involving public-private cooperation.
In reply to the original question from Zahir Hassan (Harapan-Wangsa Maju), who wanted to know the strategy of dealing with an ageing nation by 2030, Lukanisman said the Health Ministry (MOH) is improving the Senior Citizen Healthcare Service to assist the group achieve optimum health through comprehensive and integrated services.
He said the Senior Citizen Healthcare Service Action Plan 2023-2030 has also been implemented to strengthen patient-centred care, including health promotion, screening, treatment, referrals, counselling, home visits, rehabilitation and elderly club activities at 1,103 health clinics, in addition to placing 42 geriatric specialists in 21 government hospitals.
He also said a Stanford University 2022 report showed that Malaysia is among the countries with low levels of daily physical activity.
As such, he said, the MOH is implementing initiatives to cultivate healthy living under the Agenda Nasional Malaysia Sihat (ANMS), including the 10,000-steps-a-day campaign, the preparation of guidelines for an active lifestyle among civil servants, workplace sports culture and the formulation of the National Strategic Plan for Active Living 2026-2030.
In reply to a supplementary question from Zahir on the effectiveness of the non-communicable disease campaigns, such as diabetes, Lukanisman said various campaigns, like the War On Sugar, have been implemented to remind the public to reduce their sugar intake.
He added that part of the revenue from the sugar-sweetened beverage tax is channelled back to the MOH to purchase medicine for diabetes treatment, amounting to RM25 million.
“We hope to get the support from all parties, especially elected representatives and government agencies, so the MOH is not working in a silo to carry out campaigns like the ‘War On Sugar’,” Lukanisman said.
