It is imperative that workers make it a point to go for regular health check-ups to take charge of their well-being, says Dato Sri Fatimah Abdullah.

The Women, Childhood and Community Wellbeing Development Minister said despite the importance of preventive healthcare, there are those who do not see the need to get routine check-ups.

“The present practice for health check-ups for employees is either they take leave or some employers will allow them to go for their medical check-up and come back to work once it’s completed.

“But there are some employees who do not undergo a yearly medical check-up at all and they only do so when they are sick,” she said in a statement today in response to the Ministry of Health’s proposal that employers should give their workers an additional day of leave to undergo health screening.

Fatimah said the same could be said for other members of the community who procrastinate on getting yearly health checks.

“We should make medical check-ups part and parcel for a healthy lifestyle.

“As we are slowly becoming an aging society, it is imperative for the young ones to embrace a healthy lifestyle with annual medical examinations ingrained,” she said.

She also stressed that prevention and early intervention through regular health screenings will help to lengthen the independent years and reduce serious sickness in the later stage of one’s life.

Health Minister Khairy Jamaluddin at an event in Rembau yesterday called for the cooperation of employers in both the public and private sectors in ensuring that their employees undergo health screening.

He said employers needed to take into consideration the situation faced by their employees who might not have time to undergo check-ups on weekends.

He also urged the Ministry of Finance to look into drawing up regulations for employers to enable this.

Source:
courtesy of THE BORNEO POST

by MARILYN TEN

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