Cancer awareness among Sibu womenfolk still low, observes MP
SIBU: Local womenfolk should undergo regular health checks, particularly for breast and cervical cancers.
Sibu MP Oscar Ling, who gave this advice yesterday, said women should go for periodical breast examinations and pap-smears.
“Early detection is helpful in fighting cancer,” he said when launching a ‘Breast & Pap Smear Screening Campaign’ at Oya Road Health Clinic Friday.
Adding on, Ling observed that for this division, awareness on the importance of early detection of cancer to increase survival rate was still low.
“The turnout (for routine check-ups) is still not encouraging – there were only a total of 246 women who had undergone mammogram screening in 2018.
“The mammogram screening helps in early detection and diagnosis of breast diseases in women.”
Citing Sibu Division Health Office’s information, Ling said last year, only 3,846 women had pap-smear and clinical breast examinations at the local health clinic.
“In Malaysia, pap-smear is currently the primary screening tool for early detection of cervical cancer,” he pointed out.
Ling believed that the factors associated with poor uptake of screening included lack of knowledge on diseases, the lack of awareness of screening and the negative perception against screening.