SCAN hopes Sarawak Cancer Centre will finally materialise
KUCHING: Society for Cancer Advocacy and Awareness Kuching (SCAN) is hoping that the Sarawak Cancer Centre will be a reality this time around.
Its president Sew Boon Lui said as a cancer advocacy group, SCAN is delighted to hear that a proposal to set up the centre will be brought up by the state government with Prime Minister Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob and Health Minister Khairy Jamaluddin, as published by the media recently.
According to her, two previous announcements on separate occasions were made in regards to the proposal but up until now, no such centre has materialised.
“Let’s refresh our memory. Last September 2020, when the previous Health Minister Datuk Seri Dr Adham Baba visited Kuching, he mentioned his plan to use Budget 2021 to build a cancer centre. A flashback to the year 2016, there was also an announcement of an impending comprehensive cancer centre during the launch of Go Bald 2016. Unfortunately, nothing much has been heard after that, until recently. Our sincere hope is that this proposal will materialise into actual implementation, even if it may take several years to accomplish,” she said in a press statement yesterday.
Sew was responding to Local Government and Housing Minister Dato Sri Dr Sim Kui Hian’s recent statement that the Sarawak government will be discussing with Ismail Sabri and Khairy on the proposal to set up the state’s own cancer centre.
She said with the Covid-19 pandemic still haunting the people’s daily lives and nation’s current healthcare system, it is convenient and easy for the government to claim the need to re-prioritise the country’s expenditure to tackle Covid19 issues such as the costs for vaccination, treatment, necessary equipment and resources for severely affected Covid-19 patients.
She added that understandably, these are very valid issues for the nation to overcome at hand but a considerable budget is also necessary to build a brand-new cancer centre.
The reality is that cancer is the second leading cause of death in the country after heart disease, she pointed out.
“Let’s look at the factual scenario here in Sarawak. With Sarawak General Hospital (SGH) being the only hospital with cancer healthcare services for the entire state of Sarawak, the distance from the furthest patient location to SGH in Kuching is more than 800 kilometres.
“The long-distance travel for those who have difficulty accessing much-needed treatment has caused a heavy burden on families affected by cancer. Some have had to choose to forego treatment and face potential death with such a life-threatening disease,” she said.
Besides that, Sew said the shortage of oncologists in Sarawak is also a glaring issue, adding that the recommended ratio of oncologists to the population in the state should be 10 to one million.
“In Sarawak, based on a 2.8 million population, there should be ideally 28 oncologists but even today, there are only six to seven oncologists available – including at private hospitals – and they are all located in Kuching. Patients visiting SGH typically only get to see the oncologist during their initial diagnosis after a considerably long wait. The inadequacy in the treatment facility within the oncological department in SGH is just as pathetic.”
Sew said even if all cancer patients could make their way to SGH, the facilities there including the consultation rooms are far from sufficient.
According to her, the chemotherapy treatment room is usually packed with patients receiving treatment, and patients who come for consultations have to sit in cramped rooms which are shared with other patients who are also consulting their medical officers.
There is also a shortage in the number of beds at cancer wards for those needing admission, including patients from outstation/rural areas, she added.
In view of this, Sew recommended for the state government to build the Sarawak Cancer Centre like the National Cancer Institute in Putrajaya, which is equipped with sufficient scanning or diagnostic tools such as CT Scan, Bone Scan, MRI, PET scan, and advanced radiotherapy machines with the capability for SBRT or SABR.
“They could also increase the number of oncologists, oncological nurses, and healthcare professionals in all other related fields, such as dietitians for cancer patients, physiotherapists for post-surgery cancer patients, counselling nurses, counsellors and so forth. There should be an adequate number of beds for cancer patients who need to be warded including those needing palliative care,” she stressed.
While the first recommendation would potentially face some hurdles due to high investment costs, Sew said the government should consider utilising space available at the Sarawak Heart Centre in Kota Samarahan as an interim solution.
“There could also be a possibility to set up partial cancer services there as a start while waiting for a new cancer centre to be established.”
Sew also recommended to the Sarawak government set up ‘mini cancer centres’ to be located in towns or cities such as Miri, Bintulu and Sibu, as this would allow patients outside of Kuching to seek consultation from oncologists closest to them.
“Equip these centres with chemotherapy administration to reduce the need for patients to make multiple trips to SGH. Also aim to set up radiotherapy machines in Miri soon to reduce the need for long-distance travel to SGH,” she said.
Urging the federal government to support the abovementioned recommendations, Sew said Putrajaya needs to also train and develop more oncologists, haematologists, oncology nurses, and other related healthcare personnel.
Additionally, there also needs to be sufficient budget allocation to cater for hardware (cancer centre construction, purchase of medical equipment) and software or resources (healthcare professionals and related training), she said.