Health & Morbidity Survey

The 2015 National Health and Morbidity Survey estimates that the burden of non-communicable diseases such as diabetes, hypertension and hypercholesterolaemia among Malaysians aged 18 and above is very high.

47.7% of adult Malaysians have hypercholesterolaemia (high cholesterol), followed by hypertension (30.3%) and diabetes (17.5%).

“The burden of hypercholesterolaemia among youths by age categories is: 18 to 19 years old, 22%, 20 to 24 years (26.5%), 25 to 29 years (33.7%), 30 to 34 years (44%) and 35 to 39 years (49.7%).

Meanwhile, the burden of hypertension among young people by age is, 18 to 19 years (6.7%), 20 to 24 years (9.4%), 25 to 29 years (13.2%), 30 to 34 years (15.9%) and 35 to 39 (23.9%),”he said.

17.5% or 3.6 million Malaysians had diabetes with the proportion of young people suffering from the disease according to age categories as follows: 18 to 19 years (5.5%), 20 to 24 years (5.9%), 25 to 29 years with (8.9%), 30 to 34 years (10.6%) and 35 to 39 years (12.9%).

“The survey also estimates that 17.7% of Malaysians have an obese body mass index (BMI). The percentage of obese adults aged 18 to 19 years old is 11.7%, 20 to 24 years (12%), 25 to 29 years (18.3%) between 30 to 34 years old (17.2%) and 35 up to 39 years (20.5%),” he said.

The Health Ministry was aware of the burden of NCDs among youths and was focusing on NCD prevention and control strategies at the early stage according to the Life Course Approach based on the National Strategic Plan for Non-Infectious Diseases 2016-2025.

/STAR  July 2019

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