Cancer patients in rural Sarawak left in the lurch

To access medical services, villagers have to travel for five to six hours, depending on weather conidtions, on rough roads in four wheel drives. Filepic

Going for a follow up appointment with her oncologist these days means being away from home for a month.

That’s how much more complicated and difficult it has been for cancer patient Jessica Liaw post treatment. Liew is from Lawas, a small town in Limbang, Sarawak, and the nearest hospital she could go for chemotherapy and radiotherapy is 200km away in Kota Kinabalu, Sabah. Specialist hospitals in her home state Sarawak are further away, the nearest being 1,200km away in Miri.