UPP donates to pap smear campaign

SIBU: The United People’s Party ( UPP) Service Community Board donated RM3,900 to Oya Road Polyclinic for a pap smear campaign to be held at its premises from 8am to 5pm on Sept 8.

Board chairman Datuk Andrew Wong said it was part of the board’s Sibu 1 programme ( RS1) to encourage more women to take part in the campaign that aims to save lives.

“The public health programme under RS1 will work with Oya Road Polyclinic whereby we will sponsor the whole programme, including banners and other expenses,” Wong told reporters before handing over the contribution to the Polyclinic’s officer-in- charge Dr Rose Ngui.

He said a previous campaign conducted by the clinic had not been satisfactory as samples taken had been sent to government hospitals for testing.

“It took about six months to get the results which discouraged patients from taking part in the campaign.”

Wong said underthesponsorship, all samples taken would be sent directly to a pathlab and the patients would get the results in three to four weeks.

Wong said the RM3,900 does not include samples sent to hospitals for testing.

“We may need an additional RM3,000 to RM5,000 that day, depending on how many are coming for the campaign.”

Ngui said this is the third time they are organising the campaign and they are doing it on a bigger scale.

“The first time we organised the campaign, we attracted 120 patients due to a limited budget. The second time we had 170 patients, and we are targetting 200 patients this time round,” she said.

She invited members of the public to join the campaign, saying they need not pay a single sen.

Ngui said pap smear is an effective tool to screen for cervical cancer. Many people wrongly thought that the pap test would involve minor surgery, but the procedure is actually very simple and there is nothing to fear.

“Early detection helps because pap test is the most effective way to screen for cervical cancer.”

Ngui said the campaign will include breast cancer screening.