may, 2019 | The Health
Current News
05
Briefs
Jordan Asia Pacific
Kick starts Green Clean
Campaign
This year’s MoU signing between NADI and Faiza Sdn Bhd marks their third
collaboration on educating the public on diabetes.
NADI holds its
11th Diabetes
Complications
Conference 2019
T
he National Diabetes Institute
of Malaysia (NADI) focuses
on topical issues and recent
advancements in diabetes manage-
ment in DCOM 2019.
Diabetes is one of the major health
problems of the 21st century. In Malay-
sia, an estimated 2.5 million adults are
living with diabetes, an increase of 230
percent from 6.3 percent in 1986 to
20.8 percent in 2011.
Many of the sufferers, especially
those in their 20’s and 30’s do not
know that they have the disease. Worse
still, others are burdened by serious
complications such as heart disease,
stroke, kidney failure, amputation and
blindness due to ignorance and poorly-
managed diabetes.
To help address the effective
prevention and management of
these complications, NADI held its
international-level conference in Kuala
Lumpur from 10 to 21 April 2019.
The ‘11th Diabetes Complications
Conference & Grand Rounds’ (DCOM
2019) covers topical issues and recent
advances in the prevention and man-
agement of diabetic complications
including pregnancy, and those affect-
ing the heart, lungs, eyes, kidneys,
bones and the feet, among others.
International experts with interest
in diabetic complications from Paki-
stan, Singapore, and Thailand as well
as about 50 local experts in diabetes
and related fields will share experience
with an estimated 400 international
and local delegates.
MoU signing
The conference also saw its third MoU
signing between NADI and Faiza Sdn
Bhd to continue their commitment
and support to educate the public
about diabetes. Faiza Sdn Bhd granted
RM450,000 to NADI as a three-year
sponsorship from this year to 2021.
The grant is used by NADI to finance
the publication of its bi-annual maga-
zine since 2013 focusing on spreading
the awareness of diabetes.
The signing was done between
Chairman of NADI, Profesor Emeritus
Datuk Mustafa Embong and Chief
Executive Officer of Faiza Sdn Bhd,
Faiza Bawumi Sayed Ahmad.
“The signing signifies the ever-
present cooperation between NADI
and Faiza to instil more comprehensive
services through education in diabetes
management in line with the Ministry
of Health’s recommendation,” said
Datuk Mustafa Embong.
“Faiza will continue to support
NADI in its mission to educate the
public about the dangers of diabetes
and proper management of the
disease,” said Faiza Bawumi. — The
Health
Rentokil partners with MOH and AIB
As food contamination and hygiene
issues are increasing, it is crucial
to raise food safety and hygiene
standards by fostering partnerships
between regulatory bodies, and
industry leaders. Rentokil Initial
Malaysia, a global leader in pest
control and hygiene, advocates for a
closer working relationship with our
customers and recently invited them
to attend the Pest and Total Hygiene
(PATH) workshop with the theme
“Strengthening Our Partnership With
You”.
The PATH work to connect current
industry leaders with prominent
regulatory bodies such as the Ministry
of Health (MOH) and global food safety
audit body, AIB International to share on
food safety culture and how it positively
impacts businesses.
AIB stressed that simple food safety
programmes are not enough to establish
proper food safety culture, rather it is
important for all levels in the organisation
to advocate for and act as an example
for proper sanitation and hand hygiene
practices. AIB also highlighted the
positive impacts that food safety culture
brings to businesses such as increasing
morale, productivity and revenue. MOH
further reiterated the importance of food
safety while sharing an extensive list of
best practices in regards to food safety
and highlighting how crucial a trusted
pest and hygiene management partner
is in achieving standards in food safety.
— The Health
Jordan Asia Pacific Sdn. Bhd.
launched their Green Clean
campaign recently as part of their
efforts to raise the awareness on the
3R concept: Reduce, Reuse and
Recycle.
The event was attended by the
Ambassador of Norway to Malaysia,
Her Excellency Gunn Jorid Roset,
and officiated by the Director General
of the Department of Environment
(DOE), Malaysia, YB Dato Dr Ahmad
Kamarulnajuib Che Ibrahim. The
event also saw the attendance of
environmental non-governmental
organisations as a show of support for
Jordan’s Green Clean initiative.
Eric Yong, Country Manager of
Jordan Asia Pacific said, “Recognising
the need to raise the awareness
on the 3Rs in Malaysia, we aim
to work with our eco-partners to
share as much information to the
public through the help of our media
colleagues over the course of this
campaign.”
Speaking at the event were
Professor Dr P Agamuthu, a Professor
at the University of Malaya, as well
as International Advisory Board
Member of the Society of Solid Waste
Management Experts in Asia and
Pacific Islands, and William Koong,
the Chief Executive Officer of Biji-Biji
Initiative, a leading social enterprise
which champions sustainable
living, reusing wastes creatively,
and collaborative production using
discarded materials.
Latest Clinical Practice
Guidelines for Management
of Diabetic Foot
The World Health Organisation
(WHO) have reported the global
prevalence of diabetes mellitus
among adults over the age of 18
have increased from 4.7 percent in
1980 to 8.5 percent in 2014.
The Malaysian national Health
and Morbidity Survey on the other
hand shows the increase in the same
condition’s prevalence from 11.6
percent in 2006 to 17.5 percent
in 2015. The high prevalence of
diabetes among adults also increases
the risk of foot problems, especially
neuropathy and/or peripheral arterial
disease. 50 percent of the affected
individuals have no clear symptoms
of diabetic peripheral neuropathy, and
about 80 percent of non-traumatic
amputation of feet starts from foot
ulcer.
In 2011, the overall spendings
for the management of type 2
diabetes mellitus is RM1.4 billion,
which is about 9.21 percent of the
total allocation by the Ministry of
Health. The cost for treatment will
rise once work productivity stops,
due to patients being brought into
the hospital either intermittently
or on a prolonged period caused
by a diabetic foot. The second
edition of the Clinical Guidelines for
the Management of Diabetic Foot
contains recommendations based on
scientific facts for evaluation, referral,
prevention, and treatment of said
condition. — The Health
(From left) Dr Hakhyun Nam,
President & Co-Founder of i-SENS,
Inc., Jojo Struys, TV personality, and
Prof Dr Nor Azmi bin Kamaruddin,
Head of Diabetes & Endocrinology,
Hospital Canselor Tuanku Muhriz
Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia.
Getting the
right balance
Launch of CareSens Dual blood glu-
cose & ketone meter demonstrates the
importance of balance with yoga routine.
i-SENS, recently launched its Care-
Sens Dual blood glucose and ß-ketone
monitoring system in Malaysia with Jojo
Struys, TV personality at her OhanaJo
Studio. Struys demonstrated the impor-
tance of balance towards overall health
with a captivating yoga routine.
The dual function of CareSens will
help diabetics achieve the right balance
in checking their daily blood glucose and
ketone levels. High levels of ketones in
the bloodstream is a common complica-
tion of diabetes, which left untreated,
can lead to ketoacidosis and even coma.
The launch aimed to highlight the
importance of a healthy lifestyle, as
Malaysia now has the highest rate of
diabetes in Asia. Based on statistics from
National Diabetes Institute (NADI),
there are over 2.5 million adults with
diabetes in Malaysia. Furthermore,
NADI’s data suggests that nearly half of
Malaysians are unaware that they have
diabetes.
“Very often, patients with Type 2
diabetes carry on with life without any
symptoms until they experience a heart
attack, stroke, kidney failure, go blind or
require an amputation,” said Professor
Dr. Nor Azmi bin Kamaruddin, Head
of Diabetes & Endocrinology, Hospital
Canselor Tuanku Muhriz Universiti
Kebangsaan Malaysia (HCTM UKM).
Dr Hakhyun Nam, President & Co-
Founder of i-SENS, Inc. stated, “i-SENS’
philosophy is always about making our
customers’ lives healthier around the
globe through technology. This is why
we’re now investing in Malaysia which
has great market potential, and sup-
ported by a comprehensive healthcare
system for patients.”
Dr Nam highlighted this launch as
an example of public-private sector col-
laboration that goes beyond a product
launch but also helps to raise awareness
of diabetes in a creative manner, reach-
ing a larger audience. The event provided
a clear call-to-action for the public to get
their blood glucose levels checked and
diabetes patients to seek the appropriate
medical treatment.
“We understand that having diabetes
is a like a full-time job. We’re here to
share how we can manage it together as a
community – and help diabetics find the
right balance towards a fulfilling life!”
emphasised Dr Nam. — The Health