The Health | MARCH, 2019
08
Health Business
Briefs
‘Peduli Kesihatan’ scheme
Fully funded by the government.
Qualification: Beneficiaries of ‘Bantuan
Sara Hidup’ and their partners, age 50
years olf and above. RM100 million will
be allocated, with 800,000 estimated
beneficiaries. Implementation is in March
2019 in phases, starting with a pilot
project.
HEALTH SCREENING (if needed)
• Mental health
• Breast clinical
• Prostate clinical
Lab testing:
• Blood test
• Diabetes management/diagnostic
• Cholesterol level test
• Urine test
• Kidney function test
MEDICAL EQUIPMENT AID
Maximum limit:
• RM20,000 (lifetime) limited to certain
categories, in MOH clinics.
CANCER TREATMENT FULFILMENT
INCENTIVE
• RM1000 given in stages to patients
who fulfilled their cancer treatment in
government hospitals.
Source: Ministry of Health Malaysia
OurCheckup
platform aims for
5000 users
The OurCheckup
platform enables
users to be more
aware of their
health in addition
to doctors to
serve their
patients from
anywhere at any
time.
MHTC proactive in
attracting medical tourists
from Indonesia
The Malaysian Health Travel Council
(MHTC) are committed in promoting
Malaysian hospitality and health
management services to Indonesia. Chief
commercial officer of MHTC, Nik Yazmin
Nik Azman says that more than 670,000
Indonesians have visited Malaysia for
treatment and hospitality in 2018.
“Malaysia Healthcare Expo 2019
(MHX2019) in Jakarta is one of the efforts
put upon us to achieve our mission,”
he states.MHX2019 Jakarta organised
recently were participated by 11 Malaysian
private health centres and institute. MHTC
were first created in 2005 as an effort to
monitor the medical hospitality innovation
in Malaysia and beyond.
IHH Healthcare puts
aside RM2 billion capital
expenditure
IHH Healthcare Bhd is allocating RM2
billion capital expenditure from the first
quarter of 2019 for its hospital projects in
Malaysia, Myanmar and China.
Managing director and chief executive
officer Dr Tan See Leng said the hospital
projects in the pipeline will be completed
through to 2023. He said this included
an RM458.6 million investment for the
expansion of Pantai Hospital in Kuala
Lumpur, Ayer Keroh and Klang and
greenfield project for Gleneagles Medini
in Malaysia. IHH is setting aside RM65.4
million for the expansion of its medical
education arm, International Medical
University.
In China, the company is spending
RM933.8 million for two greenfield projects
for Gleneagles Hong Kong and Shanghai
hospitals and a brownfield project for
Chengdu hospital. In Myanmar, they are
allocating RM354.1 million for a greenfield
project of Yangon Hospital.
“This will add another 1,200 beds into
our portfolio,” Dr Tan told reporters during
a teleconference on IHH’s financial year
2018’s performance.
To date, the group operates over
15,000 licensed beds across 82 hospitals
in 11 countries worldwide. — The Health
iHEAL Heart Group Sdn Bhd aims
to get 5000 users to register with its
new online platform dubbed ‘Our-
Checkup’ in a year’s time. Chairman
and group managing director Dr
David Khoo Sin Keat says that the
platform will be launched April 7 in
conjunction with World Heart Day,
and that it will help users to receive
and share information on their heart
conditions, in addition to connecting
directly to their doctors.
Recently, iHEAL have signed a
partnership agreement with ASP
Medical Clinic and Permai Polyclin-
ics Group. They had also inked an
agreement with Takaful Malaysia
to become their strategic insurance
partner, as well as iHEAL Medical
Centre as its strategic medical centre.
“ASP Medical Centre has a solid
network in Malaysia with over 1000
health management providers, while
the Permai Polyclinics has 28 clinics
across Sabah and Sarawak, paving
nationwide coverage success,” says
Dr Khoo.
“We hope to widen the coverage
of the platform from time to time,
involving more doctors, insurance
providers and organisations,” he
adds.
The launching gambit was offici-
ated by the Deputy Minister of
Health, Dr Lee Boon Chye. — The
Health
Holista announces low-calorie
sugar reformulation
The 80Less™ was formulated to
address sugar taxes, which more
countries are implementing.
Australian Securities Exchange-
listed Holista CollTech Ltd (Holista)
announced that is has completed
and successfully tested 80Less™, a
proprietary sugar formulation with
a low-glycemic Index (Low GI) that
is five times sweeter than ordinary
sugar, and without any after taste.
80Less™ seeks to address chal-
lenges faced by food and drink
manufacturers amidst increasing
proposals by countries to impose
a sugar tax to curb excessive sugar
intake which is seen as a major cause
of obesity and diabetes.
80Less™ is a physical blend
of two internationally approved
substances – Sucrose (table sugar)
and very low levels of Sucralose (an
intense sweetener derived from
sugar cane) – resulting in a low-
calorie and low-GI formulation
that has taste uniformity in solid or
liquid form.
It can replace sugar in all applica-
tions, except as a bulking agent as in
sweets and candies, without the loss
of sugar’s sensory effects. One gram
of it can replace five grams of sugar.
On a gram for gram basis it is sig-
nificantly cheaper than sugar. The
replacement solution is designed
to work well in enhancing flavour
and sugar-like sweetness, preserve
high-heat stability, and enhance
taste profile of food and beverages
at a low cost while reducing calories.
80Less™ technology offer the
following advantages:
• Tastes like sugar with no unpleas-
ant aftertaste. Taste tests conducted
by in Malaysia, Singapore, Australia,
United States, Canada and Philip-
pines have found it to be comparable
to sugar in various formulations.
• Heat-stable, making it ideal for
use in baking, canning, pasteuriza-
tion, aseptic processing and other
manufacturing processes that
require high temperatures. In stud-
ies among a range of baked goods,
canned fruits, syrups, and jams and
jellies, no measurable loss of sucra-
lose occurred during processing and
throughout shelf life.
• Help control caloric Intake as it
has 80 percent fewer calories
• Recommended for diabetics as
it tastes the same of sugar with 80
percent sugar reduction
• Long shelf life allows storage
stability required for use in all
types of foods and beverages. It is
stable in acidic products, such as
carbonated soft drinks, and in other
liquid based products (e.g., sauces,
jelly, milk products, processed fruit
drinks)
• Stable in dry applications such
as hot beverage mixes, instant des-
serts, and table top sweeteners
• No further approval needed
in Australia or anywhere in the
world as two ingredients are fully
approved worldwide. — The Health