Hilmi (left) presents a medical aid worth RM78,000 to a patient M Murugaya during the event. — Bernama photo
GEORGE TOWN: The government targets the participation of 50,000 volunteers by 2016 to assist the Health Ministry empower the national-level healthy community programme (Kospen), aimed at dealing with non- communicable diseases.
Deputy Health Minister Datuk Seri Dr Hilmi Yahaya said every volunteer would be given training using medical equipment before conducting health screenings to identify the residents’ health status.
“We are currently trying to reduce the number of patients being admitted to the hospital so we are encouraging prevention and, as such, introducing the healthy lifestyle campaign.
“Through the Kospen programme that was introduced last Feb 13, it is hoped that the community’s awareness on the advantage of a healthy lifestyle will increase while this campaign should also be carried out on a continuous basis so that the people will not forget,” he told reporters after presenting aid equipment, worth RM489,250, to 33 recipients here yesterday.
Kospen is a public health service transformation that is implemented to provide knowledge and community awareness on the prevention of non-communicable diseases as an easy daily practice to bring about positive impact on the people’s health.
Hilmi also welcomed the participation of non-governmental organisations (NGOs) to help empower the kospen programme further to raise the level of health education among the community. — Bernama