08 JULY 2022, KUCHING – ProtectHealth Corporation Sdn. Bhd. (ProtectHealth) targets to screen at least 22,266 beneficiaries in Sarawak, under its programme called Skim Peduli Kesihatan untuk Golongan B40 (Peka B40) for 2022. This target would contribute to the national target this year, which is to screen at least 200,000 beneficiaries under this scheme. This year’s national target is double the total numbers that PeKa B40 achieved in 2021 with 101,673 screenings.
Pursuant to this, ProtectHealth encourages those eligible Sarawakians who are in the bottom 40% income (B40) group, aged 40 years and above to undergo free health screening of the the PeKa B40 Scheme, which will enable them to enjoy other health benefits including Health Aid (HA), Completing Cancer Treatment Incentive (CCTI) and Transport Incentive (TI).
ProtectHealth Chief Executive Officer Dato’ Dr. Anas Alam Faizli said in Sarawak, since PeKa B40 was implemented from 15 April 2019 to 30 June 2021, a total of 88,089 individuals have undergone the free health screening.
Dato’ Dr. Anas also highlighted that the numbers of beneficiaries screened in Sarawak between 1 January to 30 June last year have increased by 84 per cent from 6,390 to 11,778 people, as compared to the same corresponding period this year.
PeKa B40 was designed to focus on early detection of Non-Communicable Diseases such as diabetes, hypertension, cancers, and heart diseases or known as NCD amongst the B40. Thus, the beneficiaries would be more aware of their overall health status.
“Financial constraint is the main factor that hinders B40 families from obtaining appropriate healthcare, the reason why they need to make use of this scheme, and to detect any underlying health issues that they may have.
“Early detection would also mitigate the repercussions of NCDs, affecting the quality of life of individuals. Poorly controlled NCDs will result in an increase of people with disabilities who possess a limited capacity to produce goods and services. From a macroeconomic point of view, the increasing prevalence of NCDs contributes to economic loss because of reduced labour productivity and rising health care costs to treat NCD patients.
“Hence, we have been embarking on a series of engagements and outreaches throughout the country, to spread the awareness of PeKa B40 and making the programme more accessible to the Rakyat,” stated Dato’ Dr. Anas.
Following this, ProtectHealth and Member of Parliament Batang Sadong, YB Dato Sri Hajjah Nancy Shukri who is also the Minister of Tourism, Arts & Culture Malaysia organised a PeKa B40 Outreach Programme at Dewan Mesra in Simunjan, here today.
In April this year, ProtectHealth had also collaborated with the Sarawak State to increase the accessibility of the PeKa B40 programme to the Rakyat of Sarawak.
Dato’ Anas encourages all eligible beneficiaries in Sarawak who are entitled for the PeKa B40 scheme, to visit their nearest clinic and undergo the free health screening.
“Early detection saves lives. Members of the public may check their eligibility, by keying their IC number on our website at https://kelayakan.pekab40.com.my/semakan-kelayakan,” he stated adding that the PeKa B40 scheme in Sarawak is supported by 146 general practitioners, 138 government clinics (Klinik Kesihatan) 23 government hospitals and 5 pathology labs.
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