Take pap smear, women urged
> High success of treatment if gynaecological cancer detected early, says minister
KUALA LUMPUR: One in 10 cancer patients in Malaysia contracts gynaecological cancers like cervical, ovary and uterus cancers, said the Health Ministry.
Its minister, Datuk Seri Dr S. Subramaniam, said data gathered over five years from 100,000 cancer patients revealed that 10% were diagnosed with gynaecological cancers.
“After breast cancer, this is the second type of cancer to affect women in Malaysia, and it is a big problem.
“We provide free pap smears in all government hospitals and even health clinics but only about 40% of the target group identified have done the test,” he said after officiating at the National Gynae-Oncology Conference in Ampang yesterday.
“Malaysians need to stop being shy and realise that with early detection of the disease, there is a very high recovery rate. You can be free from cervical cancer.
“We provide privacy and comfort but people are still shy. They must overcome this feeling.
“There must be more awareness. If they know of the high success rate with early detection, they will come forward. This is where our staff on the ground must educate the public to come forward.”
Subramaniam said the second part of the awareness campaign, where human papillomavirus vaccinations for cervical cancer were given to secondary students, is a success.
“When this group of the society reaches the age of 40 and above, we hope the cervical cancer rates in Malaysia will drop drastically. This is because we have taken risk prevention by giving students vaccinations and this is a success story,” he said.