Minister concerned over overweight civil servants
Health concern: Health Minister, Pehin Dato Hj Suyoi Hj Osman (R) presenting the nutrition teaching pack to one of the participants of the symposium on Empowering Health Professionals on Non-Pharmacological Weight Management. Picture: Syafie Nadi
Monday, April 28, 2008
SOME 61 per cent of 2,200 civil servants screened for health were either overweight or obese, according to early findings from the Integrated Health Screening and Health Promotion For Civil Servants programme last year.
"This alarming figure supports the need for further in-depth study of health status including overweight and obesity levels in our general population," said Health Minister Pehin Orang Kaya Indera Pahlawan Dato Seri Setia Hj Suyoi Hj Osman yesterday.
Speaking during the symposium on 'Empowering Health Professionals on Non-Pharmacological Weight Management, the minister suggested that programmes such as the symposium and the Mukim Sihat activities should go hand-in-hand with the ministry's Integrated Health Screening as the combined outcome will contribute towards better patients' health care.
The health screening programme was launched last year to make the necessary planning procedures in preparing a more holistic healthcare system and conduct research in raising the productive levels of Bruneians.
He also called for an approach that looks beyond the prescription of drugs, due to escalating cost of drugs and drugs expenditure in Brunei.
"As is often the case, many of the drugs, particularly those that are given for common illnesses, are not being consumed according to prescriptions," he said.
This results in not only outright wastage of drugs but also affects patients' recovery and repeated visits to hospitals and health centres, he said.
Drugs are dispensed free of charge in Brunei and with the increasing global price of drugs, the burden is mostly borne by the government.
The Health Ministry's total expenditure for drugs each year amounts to roughly $54m (approximately $4.5m each month), which represents about 20 per cent from it's total budget expenditure.
Last year, hospitals gave out 580,459 prescriptions involving $1.7m worth of drugs of all kinds, an increase from the 2006 figures of 557,292 prescriptions and $1.6m drugs. Health centres also recorded increasing health costs with 585,498 prescriptions and as many as $1.6m items of drugs were dispensed last year, compared to 558,481 prescriptions and $1.5m drugs in 2006.
Health care providers have traditionally treated their patients by prescribing medications, while emphasis on diet and exercise have been less important, said the minister.
"Effective care is all about effective self-care," said the minister, citing a study done in the US that states that only 10 per cent of visits to doctors involve any mention of exercise prescription. "It is the responsibility of each one of us to make sure our lifestyle, the food we eat and the environment we live in, all contribute towards our general health and well-being," he added.
The minister also cited a study by the Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) which states that adults should accumulate 30 minutes or more of moderate-intensity physical activity, most, if not, all days of the week. "Inactivity results in chronic diseases such as cardiovascular and pulmonary diseases and diabetes, and therefore disease management must include a regime of exercises," said the minister.
Acknowledging that it is not easy for doctors to change a patient's lifestyle, the minister stated doctors can motivate the patients to change until they become convinced that it is for their own good, with a proper support system.
He said that while doctors were more concerned with finding what's wrong with a patient and how to treat him, patients only understand illness when there is pain, suffering and disruption in their lives.
"It is this gap between the doctors and patients that separate what the doctors actually order from what the patients do," said the minister.
"By just telling the patients to exercise without a support system, 50 per cent of patients will stop exercising within six months to a year," he added. (FAD1)
The Brunei Times
"This alarming figure supports the need for further in-depth study of health status including overweight and obesity levels in our general population," said Health Minister Pehin Orang Kaya Indera Pahlawan Dato Seri Setia Hj Suyoi Hj Osman yesterday.
Speaking during the symposium on 'Empowering Health Professionals on Non-Pharmacological Weight Management, the minister suggested that programmes such as the symposium and the Mukim Sihat activities should go hand-in-hand with the ministry's Integrated Health Screening as the combined outcome will contribute towards better patients' health care.
The health screening programme was launched last year to make the necessary planning procedures in preparing a more holistic healthcare system and conduct research in raising the productive levels of Bruneians.
He also called for an approach that looks beyond the prescription of drugs, due to escalating cost of drugs and drugs expenditure in Brunei.
"As is often the case, many of the drugs, particularly those that are given for common illnesses, are not being consumed according to prescriptions," he said.
This results in not only outright wastage of drugs but also affects patients' recovery and repeated visits to hospitals and health centres, he said.
Drugs are dispensed free of charge in Brunei and with the increasing global price of drugs, the burden is mostly borne by the government.
The Health Ministry's total expenditure for drugs each year amounts to roughly $54m (approximately $4.5m each month), which represents about 20 per cent from it's total budget expenditure.
Last year, hospitals gave out 580,459 prescriptions involving $1.7m worth of drugs of all kinds, an increase from the 2006 figures of 557,292 prescriptions and $1.6m drugs. Health centres also recorded increasing health costs with 585,498 prescriptions and as many as $1.6m items of drugs were dispensed last year, compared to 558,481 prescriptions and $1.5m drugs in 2006.
Health care providers have traditionally treated their patients by prescribing medications, while emphasis on diet and exercise have been less important, said the minister.
"Effective care is all about effective self-care," said the minister, citing a study done in the US that states that only 10 per cent of visits to doctors involve any mention of exercise prescription. "It is the responsibility of each one of us to make sure our lifestyle, the food we eat and the environment we live in, all contribute towards our general health and well-being," he added.
The minister also cited a study by the Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) which states that adults should accumulate 30 minutes or more of moderate-intensity physical activity, most, if not, all days of the week. "Inactivity results in chronic diseases such as cardiovascular and pulmonary diseases and diabetes, and therefore disease management must include a regime of exercises," said the minister.
Acknowledging that it is not easy for doctors to change a patient's lifestyle, the minister stated doctors can motivate the patients to change until they become convinced that it is for their own good, with a proper support system.
He said that while doctors were more concerned with finding what's wrong with a patient and how to treat him, patients only understand illness when there is pain, suffering and disruption in their lives.
"It is this gap between the doctors and patients that separate what the doctors actually order from what the patients do," said the minister.
"By just telling the patients to exercise without a support system, 50 per cent of patients will stop exercising within six months to a year," he added. (FAD1)
The Brunei Times
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