KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 7 – The health aspect of the 12th Malaysia Plan will focus on non-communicable diseases (NCDs), amid a heavier burden of lifestyle diseases in Malaysia, Dzulkefly Ahmad said today.
The health minister also expressed pleasure at Malaysia’s participation as speakers in the digital health and surgery side events at the World Health Organization’s (WHO) 70th Session of the Regional Committee Meeting for the Western Pacific in Manila, the Philippines.
“Guided by the SDGs, we are now in the midst of drafting out the 12th Malaysia Plan and this strategic planning and action framework emphasises on tackling the lifestyle diseases of NCD, which is a problem globally, notwithstanding the reemergence of communicable diseases of dengue and tuberculosis and vaccine-preventable diseases like measles,” he said in a speech during his address at the WHO meeting, referring to the United Nations sustainable development goals (SDGs).
“Whilst Malaysia has achieved substantial improvements in population health over the past decade, we acknowledge that not everyone has benefited equally from this progress, particularly the underserved people especially, in the remote areas of Borneo i.e Sabah and Sarawak.
“We still have much work to do in terms of providing the highest quality of healthcare to all our people,” he admitted.
Dzulkefly also said that Malaysia is working to enhance its health care technology and innovation to provide better access to its people.
“We are fully supportive of the constant engagement and consultation of WHO with the Member States to strategise health priorities and shared challenges and solutions within this region,” he said.
Among the items that will be on the agenda during the WHO meeting are a special briefing on the polio and measles situation in the Western Pacific region; communicable and noncommunicable diseases; climate change, environment and health; tobacco control in the region; and many more.
