ProtectHealth, CITF and MoH will open more than 30 integrated large-scale PPVs nationwide before July 19, says Dr Adham

by ASILA JALIL / pic by TMR FILE

A TOTAL of 151,729 or 33% of individuals from the bottom 40% (B40) income group were detected with at least one non-communicable disease (NCD) out of 457,462 recipients of the Healthcare Protection Scheme for B40 (PeKa B40) from 2019 until 2020.

Health Minister Datuk Seri Dr Adham Baba (picture) said those with the diseases had no prior knowledge of their condition and had never done health screenings or gone for follow-up examinations before the scheme was introduced to them.

Among the NCDs recorded include high cholesterol level, where 29.8% of them are infected with; high blood pressure (13.8%); diabetes (10.4%); and mental illnesses such as depression (1.6%) and anxiety (1.4%).

“The ministry had spent RM62.5 million between the period of April 15, 2019, and Dec 31, 2020, to fund the scheme which is aimed at early detection of NCDs among the B40 individuals.

“Of the total, RM38.5 million was used for health screenings which include physical examinations, mental health screenings, breast and prostate cancer check-ups, as well as urine and blood tests,” he said during the launch of PeKa B40 report yesterday.

The PeKa B40 scheme — which is run by ProtectHealth Corp Sdn Bhd, a non-profit company under the ministry — provides four initiatives for the B40 group, namely health screenings, medical equipment assistance up to RM20,000, cancer treatment incentive of RM1,000 and transportation incentive up to RM1,000.

It is focused on NCDs and is given free to all Bantuan Sara Hidup or Bantuan Prihatin Rakyat recipients and their partners aged 40 and above.

From the total amount utilised last year, RM20.9 million was used for medical equipment aid, RM1.6 million for cancer treatments and the remaining RM1.5 million was spent on transportation fees.

Meanwhile, on the vaccination progress in the country, Dr Adham said ProtectHealth along with the Covid-19 Immunisation Task Force (CITF) and Ministry of Health (MoH) will open more than 30 integrated large-scale vaccination centres (PPVs) nationwide before July 19.

He said ProtectHealth has reached 46% vaccination rate to date, which is more than its target of 30% under CITF.

“On the daily dose capacity, ProtectHealth has achieved its target of 80,000 dose per day before June. As at end-June, the number of doses administered by ProtectHealth stood at 110,000,” he said during a virtual press briefing yesterday.

The ministry had set a new target for ProtectHealth to increase its vaccination rate to 60% before end-August 2021.

The MoH appointed ProtectHealth in March as the executor of private general health practitioners’ involvement in the National Covid-19 Immunisation Programme.

For the vaccination rate involving general practitioners (GPs), ProtectHealth had reached its target of vaccinating 1,000 GPs before the end of June.

ProtectHealth also runs other PPVs including those for specialist clinics, private hospitals, industries and AstraZeneca vaccine centres, among others.

“In total, there are 1,230 PPVs under ProtectHealth to date. These centres will contribute 162,822 additional doses daily on top of existing PPVs run by MoH,” said Dr Adham.