Dr Hajah Norhayati b. Hj Md Kassim

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Starting Point

In Brunei Darussalam, the Ministry of Health focuses on all matters related to health. Many health issues are specific to women. Dr. Hajah Norhayati b. Hj Md Kassim has worked for the Ministry of Health for over 30 years. She began her early clinical work at Raja Isteri Pengiran Anak Saleha Hospital and community clinics. She was the Head of the Health Promotion Centre before becoming the Senior Advisor of the Department of Environmental Health Services (DEHS). In her current role at the DEHS, she has been assigned to work at the Brunei Centre for Disease Control, where she is responsible for guiding, supporting, and strengthening the implementation of the National Health Screening Programme (NHSP); increasing participation rates for the NHSP, including user engagement with the BruHealth app; and supporting the development of a National Cancer Control Plan (NCCP) for the country. Additionally, the department has tasked her with providing mentorship and guidance to relevant staff as well as contributing to advancing public health training among junior doctors.

Peace Journey

The ministry initiated efforts to enhance the overall peace and security of women and youth. One of these efforts is the Health Promotion Centre (HPC), which has significantly promoted healthy lifestyles among the population. In developing the HPC, the building it occupies was a gift to the government of His Majesty from Dutch Shell in 2006. The construction was completed in 2008. Dr. Hajah Norhayati contributed valuable input to the building's design. She and her team ensured that there were facilities for women, such as breastfeeding rooms, which tended to be somewhat overlooked then. She was part of a committee at the Ministry of Health that had advocated for breastfeeding rooms in public buildings.

Regarding women and health promotion campaigns, the ministry also conducted an awareness campaign on breast cancer. They worked with breast cancer support groups and women’s groups to raise awareness about breast cancer and the importance of screening. This campaign is particularly popular and celebrated during October, which is recognised as Breast Cancer Awareness Month. They also receive requests from community groups such as NGOS and majlis wanita (women’s groups) to hold talks on healthy lifestyles or noncommunicable disease prevention information.

In relation to youth, Dr. Hajah Norhayati is a former member of the Brunei Darussalam AIDS Council (BD AIDS Council). In her previous capacity as the head of HPC, she and her team worked closely with the AIDS Council to raise awareness about HIV, sexually transmitted infections, and teenage pregnancy. They formally advocated and collaborated with the AIDS Council to deliver the HAPPY programme, which focuses on HIV awareness for peers and youth among secondary and tertiary education students. It has been ongoing for the past few years and is delivered by youth for youth.

In the early stages of her career in HPC, the talks are delivered in a top-down manner, with an adult addressing young people. However, she believes that the speakers should also be young, as the discussion will be more open, the audience will feel more engaged, and the speakers can share their experiences. Especially when the topic is considered taboo, it can be uncomfortable for older adults to deliver such talks. She thinks the youth-to-youth method has worked wonderfully well in collaboration with the AIDS council.

Success Stories

Active collaboration with NGOs, such as the BD AIDS Council, helps to achieve the mission. Under Dr. Hajah Norhayati’s past leadership as the Head of HPC, HPC initiated close collaboration with the BD AIDS Council in 2015 to raise awareness on sexually transmitted diseases, including HIV, and teenage pregnancy. This collaborative effort was later formalised through a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) in 2019, where subsequently, the BD AIDS Council has been commissioned to deliver the HAPPY programme annually.

In the same year, the Ministry of Health, through HPC, also signed an MOU with Gleneagles JPMC Sdn Bhd,  the world’s second-largest listed healthcare operator and the Government of Brunei Darussalam. This signing formally initiated a public-private partnership venture to promote healthy lifestyles and prevent non-communicable diseases (NCDS) in the community. In this occasion, Dr. Hajah Norhayati’s as the Head of HPC played a key role in initiating the partnership and overseeing the implementation of the programmes listed in the MOU.

Under the MOU, Gleneagles JPMC  Sdn Bhd has agreed to fund three programmes run by HPC, all aimed at improving the health of Bruneians, specifically in the workplace and community settings. The first is the Workplace and Health (WAH) Programme,, which encourages workplaces to provide a supportive environment and activities for employees to be more active, eat healthy, remain smoke-free and maintain good mental well-being. The second programme, the Healthy Environment and Lifestyle (HEAL) Programme, is designed to facilitate and support physical activity interventions in community settings, leveraging on partnerships and networks with local communities, schools, businesses, health centres and other sports and recreational stakeholders. The third programme, the Health Lifestyle Programme, complements the other two programmes by raising awareness of the risk factors associated with NCDS, particularly unhealthy eating and smoking, which are also significant risk factors for cardiovascular diseases. This MOU has since been renewed annually, with the most recent renewal signed in May 2024.