By Mustakim Ramli
SHAH ALAM, June 1 — The public is urged to undergo health screenings as there are diseases without symptoms that would worsen if not detected at an early stage.
Putrajaya Hospital consultant physician and nephrologist Dr Rafidah Abdullah said the matter should not be taken lightly as several diseases have seen a significant rise in the last few years.
“Kidney disease is a silent killer as it shows no signs until it is too late. The statistics in Malaysia show that there is an increase of 15.5 per cent of such cases in comparison to 9 per cent four years ago.
“In 2019, one in five people have diabetes, with 50 per cent of them not knowing they are sick. Three out of ten have high blood pressure, four out of ten have high cholesterol levels, and one in two are overweight.
“If we do not get ourselves checked, how would we know if we are sick because these diseases are asymptomatic until it worsens,” she said during the Bual Bicara talk show titled ‘Selangor Saring: I am Healthy, So Why Get Screened’ (Selangor Saring: Saya Sihat Kenapa Perlu Buat Saringan Kesihatan), which was aired on Media Selangor Facebook last night.
When asked about people’s worries after doing the health checks, Dr Rafidah said that worrying is unavoidable, but it is better to be in the know than not knowing.
“It is better to know our (health) condition early because there are treatments. For example, the statistics on kidney disease have shown that is it better for it to be detected early on than later when there is no turning back.
“The data cited was for those ages 18 years and above, but we do have the numbers of those below 18 undergoing dialyses. We can see that younger people are not exempted,” she added.
The Selangor government allocated RM3.4 million for the Selangor Saring initiative, a free health screening programme that aims to reach 39,000 people, particularly those in high-risk groups.
The programme includes physical examinations, screenings of four types of cancers (colorectal, prostate, cervical and breasts) and blood and urine tests.
