PETALING JAYA: The lack of oncologists in the country has been a reality for the last few years, and the government needs to finds ways to increase the number of specialists, says Klang MP Charles Santiago.
"Guess what, this is nothing new. A simple Google search would tell you it’s been the reality for the last couple of years.
"If this isn’t a wake up call for us, I do not know what is," he said in a statement in conjunction with World Cancer Day on Monday (Feb 4).
The Star had reported that were only 115 oncologists in the country with 42 of them working in government hospitals which include university hospitals, while the remaining 73 worked in the private sector.
Health Ministry deputy director-general (public health) Datuk Dr Chong Chee Kheong had said that the ideal ratio would be eight to 10 oncologists per million people.
"We need to figure out ways to increase the number of specialists as the lack of experts in the field would mean that either cancer patients have to travel long hours in order to have access to cancer care or they would not receive the standard of treatment they are entitled to," said Santiago.
He added that the travelling cost may act as a deterrence for patients to seek treatment, and they would end up abandoning all medical care.
He added that the Health Ministry should set up a National Cancer Fund to help patients with the cost of cancer treatment.
He said that a 2015 survey had revealed that nearly half of Malaysian cancer patients were financially broke after a year of diagnosis, adding that cancer medication and chemotherapy could easily range from RM50,000 to RM300,000.
"Cancer medications are not subsidised by the government, forcing some of the patients to purchase those medication at premium rates in pharmacies," he said.
As such, he said to address this matter, the National Cancer Fund should be set up with an initial fund of RM10mil to aid those with a household income of RM5,000 and below.
He added that the Ministry could look at the UK Cancer Drugs Fund (CDF) model for guidance.
Santiago also urged the government to consider exercising “compulsory licensing” or “government use” in order to produce cancer drugs locally or to import generic cancer medication in the interest of public health.
"This has been done by other developing countries such as India, Thailand and Colombia," he added.
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