Special Unit For Diabetes And Hypertension At All Govt Hospitals

KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 16 (Bernama) -- An out-patient specialised unit for treating diabetes and hypertension will be set up at all government hospitals and clinics next year, Health Minister Datuk Chua Soi Lek said Tuesday.
He said the unit would be handled by doctors, nurses, as well as supporting staff who were specifically trained to handle patients of both diseases.
Currently, 30 percent of the total number of patients treated by government hospitals and clinics were diabetic and hypertension patients, he told reporters after officiating HealthCom 2005, an international conference on Health Communication, here today.
Chua said an early treatment for both diseases was important in reducing complications such as kidney failure and blindness.
Nationwide, there were about 800,000 diabetic patients, and more than three million having hypertension, with both diseases considered as prolonged diseases with no cure, he said.
Chua said: "The specialised unit will be modelled from the Maternal and Children Care Centre or the Maternity Wards, that had proven successful in lowering the number of fatality cases during delivery."
A study had been conducted at four major government hospitals in Johor Baharu, Putrajaya, Kuala Lumpur and Pulau Pinang before the government decided to set up the out-patient specialised unit.
The study found that both diseases affected Malaysians above 18 years old with 90 percent having problems in controlling them, he said.
He said the study also showed that the Malays were the worst among other races in controlling and treating their diabetic and hypertension problems.
"We also have a lot of patients who after being diagnosed with diabetic and hypertensions went missing, and were untraceable," said Dr Chua.
Chua said the study concluded that at present there were many cases of poor documentation and monitoring system.
"Some patients had not undergone a scheduled blood test, and sometimes a proper examination was not conducted by the doctors involved, for example the eye test whereby you need a dark room but in some cases the light was never switched off," he said.
The study also found that patients with diabetic and hypertension were often issued with only one type of drug and was taken in high quantity.
"A combination therapy with multiple types of drugs taken at a lower dosage is better than a single drug with a high dosage," he said.
Chua said that private clinics also practised the single drugs with high dosage combination procedure in order to reduce their patients' bill and to avoid higher costs.