HEART DISEASES IN THE MALAY COMMUNITY

HEART DISEASES IN THE MALAY COMMUNITY

25.

Dr Lily Neo asked the Minister for Community Development and Sports in view of heart disease being the second biggest killer after cancer in Singapore, younger Malay women are most vulnerable to heart attacks as shown in a nine-year study in Singapore, and women who have attacks are more likely to die than men, whether the Minister will do more (i) to promote the message and to encourage the Malay community to seek and comply with effective treatment; and (ii) to effect lifestyle changes to reduce their risk of heart attack through Malay community bodies such as the mosques, Majlis Ugama Islam Singapura and Yayasan MENDAKI.

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Assoc. Prof. Dr Yaacob Ibrahim: Dr Lily Neo's question is on a health issue. It would actually have been more appropriate for Dr Neo to direct the question to the Ministry of Health, which oversees and co-ordinates health promotion efforts.

The Government has always advocated that all Singaporeans should take personal responsibility for their health. Singaporeans can do this by adopting a healthy lifestyle which includes exercising regularly, eating healthily, not smoking and managing stress.

The risk factors for heart disease are obesity, physical inactivity, smoking, a diet high in fat and salt, high blood cholesterol, hypertension and diabetes. The Health Promotion Board (HPB) under the Ministry of Health has put in place health education programmes to educate the public about the risk factors. HPB carries out year long programmes to promote physical activity, no smoking and a diet low in fat and salt. These programmes are targeted at all age groups. HPB collaborates with voluntary welfare organisations and grassroots organisations to conduct a community health screening programme to detect hypertension, diabetes and high blood cholesterol early, so that they can be treated early to prevent complications such as heart disease.

The prevalence of the common health problems such as cancer and heart disease are different among the different ethnic groups and between the two genders. Heart attack rates are highest among the Indians, followed by the Malays and Chinese. A local study on heart attacks among adults aged 20-64 years from 1991-1999 showed that although Indians had the highest heart attack rates, Malays were most likely to die from heart attacks.

To address this, HPB works closely with various partner agencies which include Indian and Malay/Muslim organisations to promote healthy lifestyles and enhance knowledge and skills for healthy living. In the last two years, HPB worked with more than 20 mosques to jointly organise about 100 community-based programmes targeted mainly at women. HPB also collaborates with MUIS and MERAK (a network of the women's departments of 11 mosques) and other Malay/Muslim organisations to organise events such as health carnivals, health food expo and exercise @ the park. These events reach out to large groups of the Malay/Muslim community.

Another example would be the Gaya Sihat programme which was broadcast on television from December last year till February this year. The programme helped to educate viewers on healthy cooking practices and different types of exercises. In addition to this, HPB has also collaborated with Yayasan MENDAKI to conduct focus group discussions to gather feedback and inputs on health-related issues that affect the Malay/Muslim community.

HPB and the Ministry of Health are also working with Indian and Chinese community organisations to promote a healthy lifestyle and to reduce the risk factors for heart disease.

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