Let’s have Menu Meena, drop over-dependence on drugs, hospitals

 

On Feb 14, Malaysian Medical Association president Dr Muruga Raj Rajathurai called on the government to speed up healthcare reforms following a rumour that healthcare workers might go on strike.

He warned that the healthcare system, and its human resources, had been “stretched to its limits” for years, and that repeated calls to successive governments for improvement had failed to produce results.

Muruga Raj mentioned overcrowding at public healthcare facilities, a shortage of manpower, low pay and long hours and lack of employment security for contract doctors as among major issues that had yet to be effectively tackled.

On Feb 15, health minister Dr Zaliha Mustafa told the Dewan Rakyat she would meet healthcare workers as well as directors of state health departments and hospitals to seek solutions.

Certainly this is to be welcomed but I feel any measure she will take will be akin to a bandage or giving a dose of pills to ease the pain or lower the fever, not reach the root cause of the pain or fever.

I feel nothing less than a massive hands-on health education drive – coupled with an all-of-government effort to improve health, as I wrote earlier – will do.

First, there is a need to galvanise people to give topmost priority to their health, including boosting their immunity the natural way.

The health ministry has for a long while encouraged people to adopt healthy lifestyles, including dropping deleterious habits such as smoking and alcohol consumption and taking up walking. However, this has had limited success.

It needs to consider more effective ways to raise awareness and get people to adopt healthy lifestyles.

One way to do this is for the health ministry to organise more outreach programmes – using nurses and other medical staff – not just in rural areas but also in cities.

I remember nurses visiting my house and those of my neighbours when I was very young. They would chat with the elders and leave. I can’t remember the details, including how often this happened but I know they came to enquire about health problems and offer advice.

In school, health officials – usually nurses – would visit and talk to us. There was also a regular dental check-up and on occasion a doctor would give us a simple physical examination.

I think there is need for greater interaction like that in the sixties between health providers and the public if we are to build a health-conscious society. The health ministry should employ more public health trained nurses and get them to engage with people to promote healthy living.

Another is to get employers to offer bonuses or extra holidays to workers or staff who are healthy. Perhaps some work incentive can be worked out for those who do regular exercises. And why not come up with some income tax incentives for the healthy?

Perhaps the government can offer makers and suppliers of exercise equipment – and I include walking shoes and yoga mats here – some sort of incentive to sell these at cheaper prices. Cheaper equipment may encourage more people to exercise.

Healthy activities – such as gardening – should be promoted. The agriculture ministry, for instance, can set up one-stop centres for the public to get advice and seeds and plants. People can be encouraged to plant vegetables in whatever space is available in their house compounds.

This will serve a twofold purpose: It’ll mean home-grown vegetables that people can consume, therefore reducing their expenditure; and it will mean being healthier because of the physical activity involved in gardening, including touching the soil and getting good sunlight and fresh air.

Much of our disease-related problems lie in the food we eat and the manner we eat it. The health ministry should prepare and distribute material on healthy diets.

Owners and managers of restaurants and food outlets should not just be encouraged to provide healthy food – whether by way of ingredients used or preparation methods – but incentivised to do so. There should be more checks on food outlets, not just to see if they have the required licences but to inspect the preparation of food.

People should be encouraged to eat more vegetables and cut down on meat. Vegetarianism should be promoted, as it is good not only for the individual but also the nation and the planet. There are reams and reams of scientific papers on how eating vegetables or going vegetarian improves health.

Just like the RM5 Menu Rahmah that is being promoted to help people cope with the rising cost of living, let’s have a Menu Meena where vegetarian food is sold for RM5.

School and workplace canteens should be made to participate in programmes to enhance food safety and provide nutritious meals which contain lots of vegetables.

Licences to operate school canteens should not be given because the operator is known to the headmaster or some education official but because he or she cares for the health of the children and is willing to provide wholesome and nutritious food at reasonable prices.

Also, as a society, we have become too dependent on drugs and hospitals, even for simple health problems. If there is a slight headache, we pop paracetamol pills. If there is a slight fever, we rush to the clinic or hospital.

If the health ministry can educate people on how to handle simple health matters without rushing to the hospital for every problem, there may well be less crowding in hospitals and less workload for doctors and other medical staff.

Perhaps people can be taught how to look out for symptoms, how to use over the counter medicine safely, and when to contact a doctor. This should start from school.

It may be helpful if the ministry sets up a well-staffed 24-hour medical helpline for the public to call if they need information and general advice.

An alternative is to seek the cooperation of private practitioners. Members of the public living in the same area as the clinic can phone the doctor for advice, with the ministry working out some sort of remuneration package for these doctors.

The government should get private hospitals, which make lots of money out of people’s suffering, to spend on disease prevention by participating in and hosting health creation activities, or paying for these.If the government can get private hospitals to lower their charges even a little, many members of the public will be eternally grateful. This will also help reduce congestion at public hospitals.

It’s amazing that almost all private hospitals charge for even the littlest of items or service. What started as a service with noble intentions has now deteriorated into a crass profit-making business.

Existing open spaces should not be converted for other uses in the name of physical development, and new open spaces should be created. Sports should be aggressively promoted. People should be encouraged to perform tai chi, yoga and other health-promoting exercises in open spaces and public fields. Local councils and NGOs should be roped in to co-organise mass events promoting health-related activities.

Since all this is people-centric, the government should involve grassroots organisations and communities such as village development committees, NGOs, youth clubs and associations.

Funding may be a problem, if so, the government can set up a foundation – let’s call it Healthy Living Foundation – and announce that all contributions to this foundation will be tax-exempt.

But all said and done, no amount of government encouragement or incentives can help if people are lazy or indisciplined or ignorant enough to eat non-nutritious convenience food or indulge in harmful activities. - FMT

The views expressed are those of the writer and do not necessarily reflect those of MMKtT.