| Danial Norjidi |
THE titah of His Majesty Sultan Haji Hassanal Bolkiah Mu’izzaddin Waddaulah ibni Al-Marhum Sultan Haji Omar ‘Ali Saifuddien Sa’adul Khairi Waddien, Sultan and Yang Di-Pertuan of Brunei Darussalam delivered on the eve of Hari Raya Aidilfitri 1438 Hijrah is an important call to action for the whole nation, said the Minister of Health.
Dato Seri Setia Dr Awang Haji Zulkarnain bin Haji Hanafi, the Minister of Health spoke in support of the titah during an interview with the Bulletin.
The titah highlighted the importance of peace and stability, while also touching on the topic of health, reminding Bruneians that they also need to take better care of their health and control their spending habits, and calling for moderation in the selection and consumption of food.
Speaking on this, the minister shared with the Bulletin, “This titah is an important call to action by His Majesty for the whole nation. Good health is vital to our success as a nation and enables each and every one of us to live our lives to the fullest.”
“From a national perspective, health is a national security issues. There is now a significant body of evidence highlighting the importance of health with national development via its role in allowing for education in children and young people and in improving productivity and prosperity for working adults.
“For Muslims, the holy month of Ramadhan has shown us what we are capable of in terms of controlling our excesses and practising moderation,” he continued. “This practice of self-control should be something we start to incorporate into our daily lives.”
He noted that recently, good progress has been made in one important indicator of health – physical activity. According to Ministry of Health data, over a five year period, adult physical inactivity levels (that is, the proportion of adults who do not meet the recommended target of 150 minutes of moderate intensity physical activity a week) declined from 35 per cent to 25 per cent of the population.
Dato Seri Setia Dr Awang Haji Zulkarnain bin Haji Hanafi, the Minister of Health. – AZROL AZMI
“Adequate physical activity is important for good heart health and, together with a balanced diet, can assist with weight maintenance. It is therefore important that we all sustain our achievement in this area,” said the minister.
He highlighted however, that there is another aspect of health that continues to be cause for concern.
“Both among children and adults, we still eat and drink to excess. This is particularly the case for food and drink that are high in sugar and salt. Our poor nutritional status has resulted in a population where 61 per cent are either overweight or obese.
“The consequence of this is that, nearly every person in Brunei is either affected or has a close family member who is affected by diseases such as heart disease, cancer, high blood pressure, stroke or diabetes. The tragedy is that many of these diseases are entirely preventable with the right diet.
“His Majesty is an example of health. It is now our responsibility to take up the call by His Majesty to ensure that we maintain good health.”
The minister noted that, given the importance of the health of the Brunei population, His Majesty has consented to the establishment of a Multi-sectoral Task Force for Health. Comprised of various government sectors, the Task Force “moves the health agenda from one that focusses merely on the curative aspect to a whole of nation approach that builds and supports a health-promoting environment that enables us to make the right choices for ourselves and our families”, the minister shared.
Over the next few years, the Task Force is focusing on four key areas: giving every child the best start in life; improving Brunei’s food environment; supporting active communities; and towards a smoke-free generation.
He said that, as a result of the Task force, a number of key initiatives have been established including healthy workplace policies in the government sector and the training of workplace health champions. In schools too, the Ministry of Education has developed school canteen guidelines, a drink water policy, and a health promoting school programme.
“These initiatives need to be scaled up and strengthened.”
Adding on, the minister affirmed, “In responding to His Majesty’s titah, the challenge for all of us now is to consider how we live and what we can do to ensure that in our daily lives we maintain and improve our health and those of our families.”
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