Socso to give out more health screening vouchers next year

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KUALA LUMPUR: Some 200,000 additional Health Screening Program (HSP) vouchers would be distributed by the Social Security Organisation (Socso) to contributors starting from January 2016.

Human Resource Ministry secretary-general Datuk Seri Saripuddin Kasim said there would be an increase in the number of voucher distribution starting next year in a bid to encourage contributors to go for regular health screenings.

“We have increased the average contributors earning from RM3,000 to RM4,000 and expect some 500,000 new Socso contributors who would benefit to do a health screening”, he told a press conference at the Wisma Tenaga Nasional Berhad (TNB) here, yesterday.

During the tabling of the 2016 Budget, Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak announced that those earning RM3,000 and above would benefit from Socso’s social security benefits.

At present, there are 6.4 million Socso contributors in the country and 2.1 million of those contributors are aged 40 and above, making them eligible for the free health screenings.

Meanwhile, 439,732 contributors had undergone health screenings as of Nov 16, this year and out of that amount some 148,933 women had undergone mammogram screenings.

A cause of concern showed 73 per cent of the contributors were overweight or obese, while 27 per cent were diagnosed with high blood pressure, nine per cent with diabetes and 62 per cent have high cholesterol levels.

A Health Screening and Advocacy Program was held here to offer a free health screening to TNB employers that combines two important elements in the worker’s security, safety and health.

In 2014, Socso statistics revealed that occupational accidents in the country was at the rate of 3.10 per thousand employees.

The purpose of such a screening was to encourage more Malaysian workers to check their health condition and receive medical treatment when a need arises. — Bernama