with Hajjah Ainon Hj Kuntom, Director, Community Development Activities Our Member of the Month profiles the amazing achievements of World Heart Federation Members across the globe.
Formed in 1984, the Heart Foundation of Malaysia aims to create awareness of and prevent heart disease in the general public, with a particular focus on those in rural areas. The Foundation partners the Malaysian Ministry of Health in running heart screening events, giving talks on CVD and diet, running physical exercise and cooking classes, and teaching CPR.
We spoke to Hajjah Ainon Hj Kuntom, Director, Community Development Activities, to find out more about Heart Foundation of Malaysia’s programmes and priorities, and their membership of the World Heart Federation…
Heart Foundation of Malaysia’s community programmes
“I am responsible for running our community programmes which are aimed at preventative measures. As part of this we were invited to hold health screenings, talks and healthy cooking demonstrations in various town and city centres, and villages, at small community projects and during cultural festivals. I also run our Go Red For Women activities which are aimed at total home and family management, including non-formal classes on nutrition and diet, aerobics, childcare, healthy lifestyles and more.”
Top priorities for 2016
“We are currently preparing for several initiatives: our World Heart Day celebration all over Malaysia; our annual ‘colour fun run’, where all the participants run or walk 5km with multi-colour powder thrown over their shirts; and our yearly heart and exhibition screening with talks on the latest research from The Heart Institute of Malaysia. We are also compiling our data to see if there is any change in the lifestyles of the community that we serve and to assess the effectiveness of the programmes that we run.”
NHF on World Heart Federation membership
“We appreciate the insight that membership gives us into what other countries are doing in terms of awareness programmes around CVD, and into the latest techniques for prevention, control and treatment.”
If you would like to be featured as a Member of the Month, please contact our Membership Manager to find out more.
