KUALA LUMPUR: Mainly on food, eating and exercise habits, health screenings, smoking, and employment and promotion criteria in civil service, the policies also aim to help the Ministry of Health (MOH) to stay within their budget for the year. Due to the cost of treating NCDs and the lack of availability of such interventions, Health Minister Datuk Seri Dr S. Subramaniam and the MOH developed key policies to address the country’s health issues. According to Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi, “13 policies on a healthy living environment were discussed by the Cabinet Committee for a Healthy-Promoting Environment for implementation in 2018 and 2019.” However, just last week on 11 January, the MOH’s director-general Datuk Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah denied any plans to impose sugar tax to control NCDs despite reports of the MOH considering it since June 2016 saying, “We have not discussed and no plan for implementation.
Pakistan faces challenges to expand public services as Oxfam warns of rising inequality in Asia
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