Health Ministry studying Orang Asli health involving 21k respondents

 

The Health Ministry (MOH) is conducting a survey on the health of the Orang Asli, involving 21,000 respondents from July 13 to Sept 13.

Health Minister Khairy Jamaluddin said the Orang Asli Health Survey (OAHS), the first ever to be conducted, involves 4,700 households in 71 selected Orang Asli villages.

This spans eight states, namely Johor, Kedah, Kelantan, Negeri Sembilan, Pahang, Perak, Selangor, and Terengganu.

He said the survey is being conducted with the cooperation of the Institute of Public Health (IKU) and the Orang Asli Development Department (Jakoa).

“OAHS is carried out to obtain basic health data, as well as a comprehensive burden of diseases of the Orang Asli community, such as stunted growth among the children, infectious and non-communicable diseases such as diabetes, high blood pressure, cholesterol, and hypertension,” he said.

According to Khairy, the Institute of Public Health conducted the National Health and Morbidity Survey in 2019, but there were no details on the health problems among the Orang Asli community.

He was speaking to reporters after launching the OAHS at the Sahom Community Hall in Kampar, Perak, today.

Also present were MoH secretary-general Harjeet Singh and deputy director-general (Research & Technical Support) Dr Muhammad Radzi Abu Hassan.

A total of 15 teams were set up to conduct the survey which involves interviews, health screening, and examination of children’s immunisation records.

Health check-ups include anthropometric measurements by age group, blood pressure taking, blood samples to measure sugar, cholesterol, and haemoglobin levels, and hair and nail sampling for all ages at 14 villages selected for inspection of exposure to heavy metals.

- Bernama