OBESITY and diabetes continue to rise in Malaysia, despite the government’s efforts to educate the public on the two diseases, Health Minister Dr Zaliha Mustafa told parliament today,

She cited the 2019 National Health & Morbidity Survey, which showed that non-communicable diseases such as diabetes, hypertension and obesity were increasingly prevalent among Malaysians.

“The obesity risk factor increased from 17.7% in 2015 to 19.7% in 2019,” Zaliha said.

“The overall prevalence of diabetes increased from 13.4% in 2015 to 18.3% in 2019 while the overall prevalence of hypertension dropped slightly from 30.3% in 2015 to 30% in 2019,” Zaliha told the Dewan Rakyat.

She was responding Muhammad Bakhtiar Wan Chik (Balik Pulau-PH), who asked about measures taken by the ministry to raise the low health literacy rate among the people. He said Malaysia was recognised as an unhealthy country.

Zaliha said that the Health Malaysia National Agenda (ANMS) was introduced to tackle the issue. 

She said the agenda is a whole-of-nation approach to improve public health.

“Under ANMS, there are 24 initiatives that include the cultivation of healthy living, sustainability of the health wellbeing environment, strengthening of health wellbeing services, empowering self-health control, and environmental cleanliness introduced in various settings, among them are educational institutions, workplace, community and health facilities.” – June 12, 2023.