A long and tough journey

I CAME across an alarming health statistic recently.

There are at least a million Malaysians suffering from long Covid. We already know that Covid-related illness was the number one cause of death in this country over the last two years, but this new finding by researchers at Universiti Malaya and International Medical University proves that we still cannot let our guard down against this insidious pandemic.

But the problem with having too much of a fixation with Covid is that we forget that Malaysians also succumb to other causes of death.

And one of the biggest killers is cancer. As tomorrow is World Cancer Day, it’s important that we recognise and acknowledge just how widespread and pervasive this disease is.

World Cancer Day is an international day marked on Feb 4 annually to raise awareness of cancer and to encourage its prevention, detection and treatment.

The top five most common cancers in Malaysia are: breast cancer, colorectal (colon) cancer, lung cancer, nasopharyngeal (head & neck) cancer and liver cancer.

The number of patients seeking treatment for any of the above in private and government hospitals is on the rise. In fact, in many cases, there is a backlog of patients seeking treatment. This is unsurprising as our medical services had their hands full coping with the pandemic for the last three years.

I’ve seen my close friends and family who have succumbed to this debilitating disease. But I’ve also seen friends and family who have fought cancer and have continued to fight with the odds stacked against them.

“I found out about my cancer at an early stage. The moment I had a lump on my neck in December 2019, I did a biopsy. It came back benign. But when the lump got bigger, I checked seven months later and Selayang hospital discovered the lump was a secondary cancer tumour and more tests were done after that.”

This testimony is from a good friend, Louise Yap, who successfully fought against a second stage nasopharyngeal cancer.

“In three months, the Selayang hospital diagnosed my tonsils as carrying the main tumour. I was lucky that I caught it early,” she said, adding that the cancer unit at the government hospital probably saved her life.

The cost of her year-long treatment, including chemotherapy and radiotherapy, would have exceeded RM200,000 if she had gone to a private hospital. A daily chemotherapy session can cost anything between RM3,000 and RM5,000.

Yap is one of the lucky ones. There are many Malaysians who are only now seeking treatment, but their cancers have already progressed to later stages.

“We are definitely seeing a rise in cancer patients, and sadly a large number of them are stage four patients,” Dr Murallitharan M, the managing director of the National Cancer Society of Malaysia (NCSM), told me.

NCSM is a not-for-profit organisation established in 1966 providing education, care and support services for people affected by cancer.

Dr Murallitharan attributed this phenomenon to the fact that cancer screening was halted during the height of the pandemic and because people were afraid to leave their homes for cancer tests.

“The NCSM is concerned with the rising number of late-stage cancer cases. Cancer units in our government hospitals are already operating at full capacity, while treatment at private hospitals are financially prohibitive for many of these patients,” said the medical doctor.

He called on the government to introduce a new mechanism to bring in cheaper cancer medication.

“These drugs are expensive but once their patent comes to an end, generic drugs are a viable alternative,” he said, adding that the problem was our lengthy approval process for these drugs, sometimes taking as long as two years.

The wait and availability of drugs for cancer treatment is a serious concern, but B40 patients have the option of subsidised health and cancer screenings at the NCSM headquarters in Kuala Lumpur.

As the country’s first and oldest cancer NGO, the society also offers free mammogram screenings to members of the B40 group, with free cancer support and psychosocial services to all cancer patients and caregivers.

Access to healthcare for those diagnosed with cancer is important but it’s crucial to have detection in the first place because it can well be treated successfully if caught early.

Be sensitive to any abnormalities in your body and if you have a family history of cancer, regular screenings are advisable.

Tomorrow night, several buildings around the country will be lit up in the colours of blue and orange, the official colours for World Cancer Day. Just like Covid, cancer does not discriminate between colour or creed. Spare a thought for these people and their families as they go through their cancer journey.

This column would like to pay tribute to cancer survivors whose courage is an inspiration to all of us.