Johor to offer free shuttles for rural folk keen to get NCD screenings, says Yong Peng rep
PENGERANG: Free shuttle services will be provided by the Johor government to residents in rural areas who wish to come for non-communicable disease (NCD) screenings, says Yong Peng assemblyman Ling Tian Soon.
The state Health and Unity Committee chairman said that as of Friday (Sept 30), only 8.9%, or 68,478 individuals, have been screened for NCD out of a total of 762,909 eligible individuals.
“We hope we can get help from the district assemblyman’s office by identifying and registering those eligible so that the screening process will be easier regardless of whether they are in rural areas or even on the islands in Mersing.
“Since it was introduced in July this year, only 68,478 people have come forward to be screened, and we hope that more will come forward and take advantage of this free service,” he said.
He said this when met after the launch of Agenda Nasional Malaysia Sihat (ANMS) at SJKC Yok Poon here on Saturday (Oct 1).
The NCD screening is conducted under the PeKa B40 programme. It is also important as it is the first preventive step for any disease, he said.
“There are some who are afraid to know their health status, but this is important as it will give them advice on what to do once they are diagnosed with a certain disease.
“The free health screening is available at all government health facilities as well as private health facilities that have partnered with us,” he added.
Meanwhile, Ling also shared that there are 67 health clinics in the state located within flood hotspot areas.
“We have made early preparations for moving the health equipment and patients to other facilities so that they can continue their treatment without worries,” he said.
In May, Health Minister Khairy Jamaluddin was reported as saying that free health screenings will be conducted for people aged 40 and above from July to detect NCD.
The ministry would screen about 1.5 million people who had never undergone health screenings, including tests for colorectal cancer and breast cancer at public and private clinics.