KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 8 — Malaysian Health Minister Dzulkefly Ahmad today advocated aged care at the World Health Organization’s (WHO) regional meeting for the Western Pacific.
He talked about Malaysia’s various health policies for the elderly, such as the Elderly Health Programme that provides services like health screening, medical exams, and home care nursing.
Malaysia also passed last year the Private Elderly Healthcare Facilities and Services Act, besides setting up senior citizens clubs at public health clinics and providing domiciliary care services to offer a continuation of care at home after a hospital discharge.
“Admittedly a daunting task, we shall continue to strive to improve the health care for the elderly,” Dzulkefly said in his intervention note on the agenda of ageing and health at the WHO’s 70th Session of the Regional Committee Meeting for the Western Pacific in Manila, the Philippines.
Dzulkefly also praised the WHO’s draft regional action framework to support member states’ efforts in protecting children from the harmful impact of food marketing.
He called for more technical guidance to address this, highlighting existing international obligations on trade, such as the World Trade Organization’s (WTO) Agreement on Technical Barriers to Trade (TBT), TRIPS or Codex, that may interrupt the implementation of such an approach.
Dzulkefly spoke about Malaysia’s tax on sugar-sweetened beverages and a healthy school breakfast programme to tackle problems of overweight and obesity among children.
“In conclusion, Malaysia emphasises on the need of global action to reduce the inappropriate food marketing to children.”
