KUCHING: The public are urged to practise healthy lifestyle in order to prevent early non-communicable diseases (NCD) and to get treatment promptly.
Padawan Municipal Council chairman, Lo Khere Chiang gave the advice when officiating at the Kuching District ‘Healthy Living Campaign 2019’ at Kampung Semeba here, yesterday.
“Healthy lifestyle practices, like eating healthy, exercising regularly, exercising good oral health, avoiding smoking, exercising healthy reproductive and sexual health and practising social values are important elements of healthy living,” said Lo, who is Kota Sentosa Health Clinic advisory panel chairman.
The campaign is organised by Kuching District Health Office in collaboration with Kota Sentosa Health Clinic.
He commended organisers of the campaign for their efforts in raising awareness for early detection and prevention of non-communicable diseases.
The Healthy Living campaign was launched in 1995 and since then, most of the campaign activities had focused on improving screening, knowledge of non-communicable diseases such as high blood pressure, diabetes, heart disease and cervical cancer among the local community.
Lo noted that in Malaysia, there are 2.5 million adults with diabetes, 5.8 million with high blood pressure, 6.2 million with high cholesterol and 2.5 million of Malaysians are obese.
“What is very troubling is that many of us are unaware that we have the disease. For example, cancer is one of the leading chronic diseases causing death. In Malaysia, cancer is the fourth major cause of death. It accounts for 13.63 percent of all deaths occurring in government and private hospitals across the country.
“Prevention is better than cure, this is especially true for cancer patients as currently the cost of treating cancer is very high compared to the cost of treatment for other chronic diseases.
“About 30 percent of cancer deaths are preventable which is linked to risky behaviours such as being overweight, less fruit and vegetable intake, less physical activity, tobacco or smoking and alcohol consumption,” he explained.
Lo said following the launch of the Healthy Living Campaign in 1995, the Ministry of Health has been conducting various programmes and activities to promote healthy lifestyle practices among the people.
“Physical activity encompasses all movements in daily life, including work, recreation, exercise and sports, to be practised as a routine in our lives. We have to exercise at least three times a week for 30 minutes.
“I have always advised people to at least practise 10,000 steps a day, therefore, please take advantage of the opportunity to check your current health level as prevention is better than treating.
“This is true for both infectious and cancerous diseases because about 30 percent of cancer deaths can be prevented early by adopting a healthy lifestyle,” the Batu Kitang assemblyman said.
