KUALA LUMPUR, March 3 (Bernama) — While Malaysians have been advised to stay indoors following the COVID-19 outbreak, an indoor wellness survey conducted in 2019 found six out of every 10 homes have poor indoor air quality.
The survey undertaken by Nippon Paint which polled 511 respondents was aimed at accessing the habits of Malaysia homeowners when comes to the cleanliness of the four areas of the home – living room, bedroom, bathroom and kitchen.
Nippon Paint Malaysia Group (NPM Group) general manager Gladys Goh said in a statement here today research amongst 255 parents also showed more than 70 per cent of the young children below 12 years of age spend an average of 8-20 hours indoors daily.
“With this insight, it is our hope that every Malaysian homeowner will be more aware, educated and empowered to take charge of indoor wellness and work towards providing a safer environment.
“We wanted to demonstrate how indoor wellness is an ‘almost invisible’ element in our lives but one that presents dangers if it is overlooked, which is all the more relevant now with the exposure to various types of viruses and bacteria,” said Goh.
Meanwhile, Malaysian Wellness Society president Datuk Dr Rajbans Singh said it was important to ensure air quality at home was at an excellent level since environmental wellness was critical for good health.
“In the face of the COVID-19 outbreak, the majority of us have sought to stay indoors to avoid being exposed to crowded places where we may be at risk of contracting the virus or falling ill.
“The public needs to understand that environmental wellness is an important dimension within the Wellness Wheel, which comprises of seven dimensions related to individual’s overall health and wellness – emotional, intellectual, physical, social, environmental, financial and spiritual,” he said in a joint statement with Nippon Paint Malaysia today.
He said people can refer to the Indoor Wellness Guideline developed by the Malaysian Society of Allergy and Immunology in collaboration with Nippon Paint on the importance of indoor wellness and practical steps on ways to minimise or eliminate indoor pollutants.
The indoor wellness guideline can be downloaded at www.nipponpaint.com.my/indoorwellness
NPM Group is currently Malaysia’s No 1 Total Coating Solutions provider enjoying its market leadership position since 2008. The NPM Group with award-winning coating products for architectural, automotive, industrial and marine places strong emphasis in R&D activities, which remains a core priority to its success in product innovation.
