By Zareef Muzammil
SABAK BERNAM, May 28 — The majority of participants in the free health screening programme Selangor Saring in Sabak state constituency were individuals aged 60 and above.
Selgate Healthcare Sdn Bhd general manager Dr Jeevarajah Ratnarajah said as of 1pm today, more than 82 participants had undergone examinations to check on their health status.
He said the response from the rural folks was very encouraging which proved their high level of awareness level on health issues, especially after the country enters the transition to the endemic phase.
“We can see that the response has been very good because Malaysians generally do not go for health screening. Usually, when there is a programme (such as this), only 20 to 30 people will turn up.
“However, many people attended today’s programme in the morning. We expect the number of participants to increase because 500 screening slots have been allocated for the residents here,” he said when met at the Grand Sabak Hotel & Mini Convention Centre near here.
In the meantime, he said the screening programme focuses on non-communicable diseases (NCDs) such as heart disease, diabetes, cancer and glaucoma as many people in the country do not practice a healthy lifestyle.
“We really emphasise the NCDs and all these screenings were done on the ground and participants need to register via the SELangkah mobile app,” he said.
The state government has allocated RM3.4 million for the implementation of Selangor Saring, focusing on providing free medical checkups for people in the state.
Menteri Besar Dato’ Seri Amirudin Shari said the programme is expected to benefit some 39,000 people especially those at risk including a family history of ailments, who are overweight and those living an unhealthy lifestyle.
