KUALA LUMPUR – Former prime minister Tun Abdullah Ahmad Badawi has dementia, his son-in-law and Health Minister Khairy Jamalulddin revealed in public for the first time today.
Launching the 26th Malaysian Conference of Psychological Medicine, which was broadcast live on the Health Ministry’s Facebook page, Khairy spoke of the country’s fifth prime minister while talking about the challenges and the need to improve healthcare services for dementia patients.
“I thought I’d share with you that he has dementia. There are more bad days now than good, so keep him in your prayers,” he said of the 83-year-old who was prime minister from 2003 to 2009.
He added that Abdullah, better known as Pak Lah, could no longer remember the names of his immediate family members.
He is also wheelchair-bound, added Khairy, who described dementia as a “cruel condition” whereby “the body is there but the mind is not”.
Khairy today also spoke on clinical practice guidelines on the management of dementia and schizophrenia.
These issues would be included in the health white paper that his ministry is currently preparing, with the aim of improving domiciliary care, or the care of patients in their own homes. – The Vibes, September 11, 2022
