A new community health and wellness campaign was launched recently to benefit the public housing residents of Flat Harmoni in Buntong.
This project is a public-private partnership between the Faculty of Medicine at Quest International University (QIU), the Ministry of Health (KKM), and the Perak Women for Women Society (PWW).
Held on 12th April 2025, the first of six workshops in this campaign included a health screening for residents and focused on increasing awareness of non-communicable diseases (NCDs), which account for 74% of all natural deaths worldwide according to the World Health Organization. Notably, this group of diseases includes cardiovascular conditions, cancers, chronic respiratory diseases, and diabetes.
Upcoming workshops will continue until year’s end and focus on other broad aspects of public health, such as exercise, nutrition and stress management. This campaign aims to further progress on achieving the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), specifically SDG 3 – good health and well-being.
The event began with Dr Bhupinder Kaur from QIU introducing the campaign and its goals to the participants. She then invited Dr Subashini Ambigapathy from Klinik Kesihatan Buntong to present an overview of NCDs, their causes, risk factors, and treatment options. This session was followed by a health screening of all participants, during which they were screened for body mass index, blood pressure, blood sugar, and total cholesterol.
Afterwards, the participants were divided into groups to discuss one of the following NCDs and risk factors – hypertension, diabetes, or high cholesterol. They were then encouraged to share their thoughts on the causes, signs and symptoms, and preventive measures for their assigned condition.
After the event, the Chairman of the Kawasan Rukun Tetangga of Flat Harmoni, Muhammad Faiz Abdullah, congratulated the participants on their interest. In his message, he said, “we must always be mindful of our health for our better future. If we do not take care, we may end up burdening ourselves and others, especially family members.”
The next event in this series will take place on 21st June 2025, and focus on nutrition and healthy eating.
