In conjunction with the 2016 Parents' Day, Wanita MCA will be organising nationwide healthcare check-ups for osteoporosis for parents and senior citizens throughout the months of May and June.

The nationwide road show was officially launched at Wisma MCA Kepong on 1 May. I congratulated Wanita MCA Vice Chairman cum national organising chairperson Wang Kim Lean, and co-organisers Wanita MCA Wilayah Persekutuan, Wanita MCA Kepong and Wanita MCA Bukit Bintang for having successfully organised the said event.  

1 also thank the Ministry of Health and the Malaysian Women Development Foundation for their kind support and co-operation in making this people-oriented healthcare project possible.

As a gift of gratitude, with love and care towards our elderly, admission and check-ups will be conducted free-of-charge, and the seminars will be conducted in Mandarin by orthopaedic specialists. Senior citizens aged 50 years old and above are welcomed to attend, and youths are encouraged to bring along their parents.

Osteoporosis is a silent disease, and a major health concern in Asia. One out of every two women, and one out of every five men above the age of 50 in Malaysia suffer from osteoporosis due to low intakes of calcium and Vitamin D.

According to a survey by dairy company Fonterra, 32% of Malaysians surveyed do not consume calcium-rich foodstuff, and over two-thirds do not exercise enough, resulting in them being exposed to the risk of osteoporosis and other bone-related disease.

Over the past 30 years, most Asian nations have recorded a 2-to-3 fold increase in hip-bone fracture occurrence rate. It is estimated that, by 2050, up to 50% of such occurrences will be in Asia. There are 1.7 million osteoporosis patients worldwide and the statistics is projected to sharply increase to a worrying 6 million by 2050.

To prevent the situation from worsening, and in view that the patients are mostly senior citizens, Wanita MCA had decided earlier this year to conduct the nationwide tour seminars, in collaboration with the Malaysian Women Development Foundation, with the aim to:

1) Celebrate Parent’s Day, as well as to serve as a gift of love from Wanita MCA to our senior especially parents so that preventative measures can be taken

2) Increase societal awareness about osteoporosis in line with two of the Wanita MCA's 10 Mega Projects, namely

   i.  Strengthening family education and Chinese traditional and cultural values

   ii. Planning and activating all works related to womenfolk, community development and assistance to the poor, to improve people's standard of living

3) Enhance sense of gratitude towards parents and elders

4) Enhance parents-and-children relationship, thereby creating a caring society where elders are well taken care of by their children

We sincerely hoped that such activities will be able to promote a healthy living culture by making it more convenient for parents to have orthopaedic check-ups, and to better understand orthopaedic care, including prevention and treatment. This is Wanita MCA’s gift of love to all Malaysian senior citizens. I wish you all health, peace, joy and blessing.

Also, I wish you all a Happy Labour Day!

Datuk Heng Seai Kie
Wanita MCA Chairman
Special Advisor to National Unity and Integration under the Prime Minister’s Department

-MCA online-