Its minister, Dzulkefly Ahmad, said many Malaysians were not even aware that they had high cholesterol, which was also becoming a problem among many youths.

He cited a survey in 2015 which revealed that among high cholesterol patients, 38.6% (or 7.8 million) of them were not aware they had high cholesterol.

“For every one diagnosed or known case of high cholesterol, there were four cases of undiagnosed or unknown high blood cholesterol,” he told reporters.

The survey also said the overall prevalence of high cholesterol among Malaysian adults, aged 18 and above, was 47.7% (9.6 million).

“Worst, almost one in two adult Malaysians suffer from high cholesterol. This is a relative increase compared to 32.6% in 2011,” he said.

Dzulkefly said the level of awareness, risk perception and testing for cholesterol levels among Malaysians is low.

“Adding to this are myths and misconceptions surrounding high cholesterol and its association with age, gender, body weight and fitness level,” he said.

He also said that most people with high cholesterol did not show any symptoms and only became aware of the problem when their high cholesterol levels were detected through a blood test.

He urged Malaysians to take ownership of their health, as the government tries to assist through programmes such as Peka B40, offering health screening to detect non-communicable diseases (NCDs) early.

He was also concerned that Malaysians were developing heart disease at a younger age compared with their peers in neighbouring and developed countries.

According to Dzulkefly, the average age of those with heart diseases in Malaysia is 58, whereas in Thailand it is 68, Singapore 61, China 63, the United States 66 and Canada 68.

Dzulkefly also called upon other key players in the public health sector including private health care practitioners, companies and NGOs, to support and complement the services and campaigns led by the government to reduce NCD and improve public health.