SEGAMAT, Nov 5 — The Health Ministry (MOH) will evaluate the necessity before freezing the leave of its staff throughout the country in preparation to deal with floods due to the northeast monsoon season.

Its Minister Dr Zaliha Mustafa said that as of now, there was no need for such a move as the flood situation in the country was still under control.

However, she said the ministry has made preparations to address the disaster from various aspects, including providing facilities, medications and so on.

"We are currently monitoring the situation, and the staff has been alerted. The decision to freeze leaves is usually based on meteorological conditions and other factors.

"In case there is a high risk of flooding and the need arises, leave will be frozen (but) as of today, such action has not been necessary,” she told reporters when attending the Madani Afiat Mini Carnival at Taman Fajar hall, Bukit Siput near here today.

Dr Zaliha said the ministry was always vigilant about food preparation during floods as water sources can easily become contaminated.

Meanwhile, she said the ministry was concerned about the increasing trends of non-communicable diseases (NCDs), such as diabetes and hypertension, especially among the youth.

Therefore, she said the MOH has taken the initiative to lower the age limit for health screenings from 40 to 18.

"Based on the outcome of these screenings, MOH can take early intervention measures to mitigate the risk of related diseases,” she said.

Commenting about today’s programme, Dr Zaliha said the Madani Afiat Mini Carnival serves as a platform to raise public awareness about health care in preventing the increase of NCDs. — Bernama