KUALA LUMPUR: The lack of participation in screening has hampered efforts to ascertain the actual burden of Covid-19 and other widespread illnesses on the healthcare system, says Khairy Jamaluddin.

       The Health Minister said over one million Malaysians who are eligible for free health screening under the PeKa B40 (healthcare for the B40 group) plan failed to do so.

       “Under the Health Ministry, we provide free health screening to those in the B40, those aged 40 and above, and Bantuan Sara Hidup recipients but over one million of them did not utilise the facility.

       “Perhaps awareness is still low as they didn’t even go for the most basic screening, so when we face this sort of situation (the Covid-19 pandemic), we don’t know the actual burden on our healthcare system.

       “Most diabetic patients are not aware that they have the illness until it is too late. It is the same with cancer,” he said during a meeting with cancer patients yesterday. The event was held in conjunction with World Cancer Day which was on Feb 4.

       Khairy also expressed concerns over the increase in the percentage of late-cancer detection.

       “If we are able to detect and treat cancer at an early stage, the possibility to cure or control it is higher.

       “Late detection especially those in Stage Three and Four had increased, which is from 58.7% in 2007 until 2011 to 63.7% in 2012 until 2016.

       “The percentage is worrying as based on the 2018 Malaysian Study on Cancer Survival, the later cancer patients are diagnosed, the lower the chances of survival,” he said.

       The minister also said Malaysia has a very high number of non-communicable diseases (NCD) such as hypertension and diabetes.

       “NCD such as cardiovascular and obesity would complicate health conditions. Patients would have two or three illnesses, so chances for those who are infected with Covid-19 to recover are relatively low due to these complications,” he said, adding that it was one of the reasons Malaysia recorded a high number of deaths during the Covid-19 pandemic.Khairy said cooperation was needed to identify areas for improvements to increase public awareness on early detection.

       “Awareness among Malaysians, particularly the Malays, is low especially on the vaccine.

       “That is why we need to educate them in all aspects, not only from health and science perspectives but also from the religious and social points of view,” he said.