SHAH ALAM, Mar 14 — The nation has not done enough to promote preventive healthcare and healthier lifestyles, including reducing excessive sugar intake, even as non-communicable diseases (NCDs) continue to rise.
This is according to senior economist Prof Jomo Kwame Sundaram, who said the country faces a growing health challenge as Malaysians live longer but not necessarily healthier lives.
“My former colleague once pointed out that although Malaysians are living longer, we are not reaching our full potential lifespan, given the country’s income levels.
“Secondly, we are simply not living well,” he said during the Taxation, Public Finance, and Healthcare Funding forum at the Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia Hospital (HUKM) in Cheras yesterday.
Jomo, a research advisor at the Khazanah Research Institute, added that the final years of life for many Malaysians are often marked by poor health.
He linked most of the problems to the rapid rise of NCDs, which could be mitigated through stronger preventive healthcare measures and lifestyle changes.
“The rise of NCDs is very troubling. Part of the reason, of course, is that we have not done enough in terms of preventive health for NCDs,” Jomo said.
Even simple lifestyle changes could have a significant impact on public health outcomes.
“If there were stronger deterrents against unhealthy lifestyles — for example, the high sugar consumption in this country — it could make a significant difference,” he said.
The economist also pointed to everyday lifestyle factors that discourage physical activity, such as buildings designed to make people rely on lifts rather than stairs.
These patterns reflect a broader neglect of preventive healthcare in the country, and more efforts should be directed towards early detection, screening, and health education.
He said that improving national health outcomes requires more than just increasing funding, warning that persistent underspending on healthcare could undermine Malaysians’ well-being in the long run.
“The underspending on health in this country today is a very serious problem. It is going to compromise the ability of Malaysians generally to live well into their old age,” Jomo said.
