PETALING JAYA – Non-communicable diseases (NCDs) kill 41 million people each year, which is equivalent to 74% of all deaths globally.
Each year, 17 million people die from NCDs before the age of 70 and 86% of these premature deaths occur in low- and middle-income countries.
In Malaysia, NCDs are the main cause of death and disability. It is estimated that one in five adult Malaysians are living with diabetes, one in three are living with hypertension, and nearly half are overweight or obese (National Health and Morbidity Survey, 2019), said Malaysian Medical Association (MMA) president Dr Azizan Abdul Aziz.
She said the use of tobacco, physical inactivity, harmful use of alcohol and unhealthy eating habits can increase the risk of NCDs, in particular diabetes type 2, cardiovascular disease and cancers.
“NCDs are a serious threat to the health and productivity of the nation that needs to be tackled through a comprehensive national prevention strategy.
“The strategy should include effective health education campaigns in schools and at the community level.”
She said most importantly, people need to start taking responsibility for their own health by adopting a healthy lifestyle and going for scheduled medical check-ups to be up to date on their health status.
Azizan said it needs to be noted that it costs significantly more to treat than to prevent NCDs and therefore taking all necessary preventive measures now are advised.
She said the best outcomes can be achieved when people are pro-active when it comes to health.
A report from the Health Ministry and the World Health Organisation (WHO) utilising data from 2017 reveals that NCDs, particularly cardiovascular diseases, diabetes and cancer, cost the Malaysian economy RM 8.91 billion, which is equivalent to about 0.65% of the country’s gross domestic product (GDP).
It said the economic cost was estimated from the productivity losses due to absenteeism, presenteeism in the workplace and the premature death of the working age population in Malaysia.
The report stated that aside from productivity losses, NCDs also place a serious health burden on countries resulting from disability and loss of healthy life years, called the burden of disease costs.
Former health director-general Tan Sri Noor Hisham Abdullah had said that NCDs are often associated with healthcare costs, and evidence such as this shows how NCDs hamper the social and economic development of our country.
In the report, unhealthy diets contributed to two-thirds (68.9%) of the costs of lost productivity due to premature deaths from cardiovascular diseases (CVDs) while tobacco use contributed to more than one-third (36.9%) of losses.
Tobacco use also contributed to the highest proportion of the losses from cancer (15%). – The Vibes, October 17, 2023
