'Gift Of Love' campaign kicks off to provide free heart health checks

KUALA LUMPUR, April 22 (Bernama) -- BookDoc together with Nestle Omega Plus, Caring Pharmacy and Pfizer Malaysia have launched the ‘Gift of Love’ Campaign, which aims to assist the general public in early detection and management of heart health, by providing them free basic health checks.

The six-month campaign which began today will enable interested participants to undergo basic health-related checks at selected Caring pharmacies nationwide in a less-than-10-minute procedure. 

Embarked in conjunction with the World Health Organisation’s goal to reduce the number of premature deaths from cardiovascular diseases (CVD) by 25 per cent by 2025, the campaign targets at least 6,000 participants, who could also consult in-store pharmacists for advice and, if showing any related symptoms, will be referred to hospital and clinics for further check-ups. 

BookDoc founder cum chief executive officer Datuk Chevy Beh said as the leading digital healthcare solutions provider, the company understands the importance of access to heart basic healthcare as well as early diseases detection and management, especially during the country’s transition to endemic phase.

“CVD has been the leading cause of death in Malaysia for a long time and the age of onset of CVD in Malaysia is younger compared to our neighbouring countries. Through the partnership, we hope to assist the rakyat in early detection and management of heart health,” he said at the launch of the campaign in Petaling Jaya here today.

Meanwhile, Caring Pharmacy marketing director Loo Jooi Leng said they were confident the campaign would be fruitful as they had collaborated with Pfizer Malaysia for over a year in providing Atrial Fibrillation (AF) screening and campaign. 

“Thus, we strive to deliver the same result and provide excellent pharmacy care for our customers in this campaign,” said Loo.

Nestle (Malaysia) business executive officer (milk business unit) Lam Pui Yuee expressed hope that Malaysians will take advantage of the great initiative as, according to the Malaysian Department of Statistics, heart diseases remained the principal cause of death in the country in 2020, accounting for around 17 per cent of total registered deaths.

She said in terms of cholesterol, which is a major factor for CVDs, it was reported four in 10 Malaysian adults are found to have high cholesterol and the majority of them are not even aware of it.

“This stresses the importance of early detection and management of overall heart health,” she explained.

Meanwhile, Pfizer Malaysia and Brunei country manager Luksananawan Thangpaibool said the importance of heart health screenings cannot be overstated because, with early detection, many people with heart conditions such as AF could live normal as long as they also opted for a healthy and active lifestyle.

Those interested in the campaign are encouraged to sign up at BookDoc website at https://gift-of-love.bookdoc.com/.

-- BERNAMA