‘Early detection matters’

You should care: Nancy (third from right) wih participants after inaugurating WCare at Lundu, Sarawak. — Bernama

LUNDU: Breast cancer is the most common type of cancer among women and also the leading cause of cancer deaths, said Datuk Seri Nancy Shukri.

The Women, Family and Community Development (KPWKM) Minister said breast cancer had the highest percentage at 34.1% compared to other types of cancers among women in Malaysia.

“This means, the incidence rate of breast cancer in Malaysia is 34.1 cases per 100,000 female population.

“As for cervical cancer, women aged 30 and above are the highest risk group. These two types of cancer are reproductive cancers that often haunt women in our country,” she said when launching the Women’s Reproductive Cancer Awareness Campaign (WCaRe) here yesterday.

She said the ministry through the National Population and Family Development Board (LPPKN) launched the WCaRe campaign to increase awareness among women of the importance of early screening to detect breast and cervical cancer.Nancy added that the effort is also to achieve the global goal of zero cervical cancer incidence by 2070, reported Bernama.

“KPWKM through LPPKN also provides targeted subsidies for these two tests for those who qualify, especially the B40 group.

“A total of 49 Nur Sejahtera Clinics throughout the country are also providing Mammogram and HPV DNA Tests,” she said.

Earlier, Nancy visited the home of one of the respondents for the Family Well-being Index Study at Kampung Sileng Melayu.

It is a joint study by Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia and Universiti Malaysia Sarawak to measure the well-being of families in Malaysia.

In Sarawak, a total of 480 respondents from 8,000 families are involved in the study which has eight main domains such as family relationships, economy, health, safety, community involvement, the role of religion and spiritual practices, housing and environment as well as family and communication technology.