KUALA LUMPUR, Feb 23 — The Health Ministry (MOH) has allocated more than RM137 million this year to strengthen early prevention of non-communicable diseases (NCDs) following a rise in diabetes and heart disease complications, which are placing pressure on the national healthcare system.
Its minister Datuk Seri Dr Dzulkefly Ahmad said the specific allocation is channelled through several initiatives, involving health screening, treatment and healthy nutrition advocacy.
“Of this amount, RM10 million is allocated for the National Health Screening Initiative (NHSI), which aims to expand early screening for NCD risk factors among Malaysians aged 18 and above.
“Meanwhile, RM80 million is allocated for the PeKa B40 programme, which provides free health screenings for the low-income group, while RM1.7 million is allocated for the War on Sugar initiative, a healthy nutrition advocacy campaign to reduce excessive sugar consumption,” he said during a question-and-answer session in the Dewan Rakyat today.
Dr Dzulkefly was responding to Kampar MP Chong Zhemin on the preparedness of government hospitals to cope with the rising incidence of NCDs like diabetes and heart disease, as well as the specific allocation for early prevention.
He added that RM45.4 million has also been allocated to expand access to SGLT2 inhibitors (SGLT2i) for diabetes treatment, as well as to reduce the risk of complications such as chronic kidney disease and heart failure, thereby lowering hospital admissions and long-term treatment costs.
The economic burden caused by NCDs, including cardiovascular disease, cancer, diabetes and chronic lung disease, in Malaysia, is estimated at RM64.2 billion, comprising RM12.4 billion in healthcare treatment costs and RM51.8 billion in indirect costs, including productivity losses and premature deaths.
Responding to Kapar MP Dr Halimah Ali's query on the latest NCD statistics, Dr Dzulkefly said 1.8 million individuals had undergone screening under the NHSI as of last year, with 17.9 per cent found to have high blood pressure and 9 per cent recorded elevated blood sugar levels.
