GOMBAK, July 9 — The Madani Afiat programme is the government’s approach to bring the services of the Ministry of Health (MoH) directly to the community to raise awareness on health issues.

Health Minister Dr Zaliha Mustafa said the initiative was to detect and prevent the risk of non-communicable diseases (NCD) in the community through various programmes such as door-to-door health screenings, health fairs and gotong-royong with the local community.

"We are combining the Madani Afiat initiative with the Gotong Royong Mega Perangi Aedes 1.0 and One Hour Malaysia Clean Up programme which was launched today. This is very much in line with what we want to implement under the Madani Afiat programme in getting the MoH closer to the community.

"Awareness programmes like these must continue because ultimately we want the people to be healthy and this is also one of the pillars mentioned in the Health White Paper which is promoting health,” she told a press conference after officiating the Madani Afiat programme at the Batu Caves Community Hall today.

She said the programme was also one of MoH’s efforts to reduce the number of health cases in Selangor, especially involving non-communicable diseases and dengue fever which have been increasing.

Dr Zaliha said the data obtained through these activities could help to produce an effective and efficient action plan for the future in line with the nation’s health reformation agenda.

On the cumulative number of dengue fever cases that has been increasing in the country, she said dengue prevention and control efforts have been increased with the involvement of MyCHAMPION COMBI volunteers nationwide as agents of community behavioural change.

"As of June 2023, a total of 3,320 MyCHAMPION volunteer teams have been established with the participation of 31,065 volunteers who are from among the communities across the country.

"In Selangor, MyCHAMPION COMBI volunteers are at 482 locations with a total of 4,033 members. Therefore, I call on MyCHAMPION COMBI to continue to be empowered so that they play an influential role in helping the Ministry of Health in the fight against dengue,” she said.

At the same event, Zaliha together with caretaker Selangor Menteri Besar Datuk Seri Amirudin Shari flagged off 150 nurses from Sungai Buloh College of Nursing who have been sent to conduct door to door health screening in the nearby area.

Commenting on the Madani Medical Scheme initiative, Zaliha said some 44,000 people have benefited from the programme which started off in Gombak, Selangor.

"A total of 27 private clinics around Gombak were involved and this week 757 residents were attended to at these private clinics.

"This is a MoH pilot project, if it is successful within two or three weeks, we will expand it further to include several other clinics nationwide,” she said.

The Madani medical scheme is a government pilot initiative to help sustain the health needs of the B40 group, especially for primary care services for acute cases to be implemented in several districts including Klang, Hulu Langat and Gombak, Kinta (Perak), Kuching (Sarawak) and Kota Kinabalu (Sabah). — Bernama