Fahmi (second from right) visiting a booth during the programme launch in Kuala Lumpur.
A FREE mammogram programme aims to provide screenings to 4,000 underprivileged women aged 40 to 65 nationwide through 17 panel hospitals.
Participants of the programme offered by Etiqa Life Insurance Bhd in collaboration with National Cancer Society of Malaysia (NCSM) will also receive a digital self-breast examination kit that can help keep future examinations on track.
Etiqa chief executive officer Leong Su Yern said with the launch of Phase 7 of the programme, Etiqa reaffirms its commitment to ensuring that underprivileged women have access to early breast cancer detection.
“Together with NCSM, we envision a future where breast cancer is detected early, treated effectively and one day will no longer be a threat to loved ones and friends,” said Leong.
The digital self-breast examination kit will allow women to enrol in the National Cancer Screening Registry (NCSR), providing them with prompts to continue their self-breast examinations and annual notifications to undergo a mammogram.
Materials in the kit will also be in multiple languages to eliminate language-related barriers, Etiqa said in a press release.
The programme at Dataran Maybank in Kuala Lumpur was launched by Communications Minister Datuk Fahmi Fadzil. Also present was NCSM president Datuk Dr Saunthari Somasundaram.
At the event, more than 200 women took part in interactive workshops on breast health awareness and hands-on self-examination techniques.
Dr Saunthari said early detection was the cornerstone of effective breast cancer treatment.
“By offering free mammograms and empowering women with self-examination kits in multiple languages, we are helping remove critical barriers to care.”
Etiqa’s free mammogram programme has screened 34,595 women since 2017.
The company has committed RM11.7mil to fund free screenings for underprivileged women nationwide.
In Phase 5, the mission to extend healthcare access to underserved communities was realised through the introduction of the Etiqa National Mobile Screening Clinic, an initiative fully funded by Etiqa and operated by NCSM.
The mobile clinic provides cancer screening services, including breast, cervical and prostate screenings directly to communities across both rural and urban Malaysia.
To date, over 50,000 Malaysians have benefitted from these mobile screenings.
