Poor response to health screening

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Only 10 pct of 100,000 vouchers issued by Socso in Sarawak used since its launch, says Riot

Riot taking a closer look at a wheelchair exhibited during the seminar. At right is Dr Mohammed Azman. — Photo by Chimon Upon

KUCHING: Only 10 per cent of the about 100,000 vouchers given out to eligible Social Security Organisation (Socso) contributors in Sarawak had been used to date.

This was revealed by Human Resources Minister Datuk Seri Richard Riot, who said nationwide a sum of RM200 million had been allocated by Socso for its free health screening programme which was started in January last year to benefit some 1.9 million eligible private sector employees.

Dismayed at the poor response throughout the country, the Serian MP questioned why employees were not using the free health screening vouchers given to Socso contributors aged 40 years and above, saying it is good to know the condition of one’s health.

“The government has allocated millions of ringgit to ensure that all employees in the country can go for free full health screening. The government channelled this fund to Socso which has its panel of doctors, including private practices that do free health screenings.

“We are giving out many vouchers to employers in the hope that their workers would go but unfortunately the response is not encouraging and employees are not taking full advantage of this,” he told reporters when met after officiating at the Certified Medical Impairment Assessor (CMIA) course series 1/2014 and launching of Socso Rehabilitation Facilities Video at Riverside Majestic Hotel here yesterday.

Also present were Socso chief executive Datuk K Selvarajah and deputy chief executive (Operations) Datuk Dr Mohammed Azman Aziz Mohammed.

Riot did not rule out that the poor response could be due to employees not knowing the availability of the free health screening programme aimed at detecting non-communicable diseases like high blood pressure, diabetes, cancer and heart disease including pap smear test and mammogram for women employees.

Earlier in his speech, Riot called on all small and medium enterprises (SMEs) to ensure that their workers contribute to Socso, noting that the number of SMEs contributing to Socso was well below the target.

“We have not achieved our target. We hope that more employers will contribute to Socso. By right, these employers and their employees should be contributing as stated in the law,” he continued.

Riot also hoped that more SMEs make contributions to the Human Resources Development Fund (HRDF) to aid the nation’s human capital development.

Currently 6,949 employers in the manufacturing sector and 7,163 in the services sector are registered with HRDF.

Enforced since 2001, HRDF is mandated to collect levy from eligible registered employers involved in the manufacturing and services sectors.

The objective of the fund is to continuously maintain and upgrade the skills, knowledge, and capabilities of the workforce – increase the supply of skilled workers under the apprenticeship scheme, industrial training scheme and recognition of prior learning and to equip workers with IT skills.