MMA targets to raise RM500,000 via Sepeda Amal Borneo 2024
KUCHING: The Malaysian Medical Association (MMA) is eyeing to raise RM500,000 from the ‘Sepeda Amal Borneo 2024’, scheduled to be running from this July 28 to Aug 3.
The charity cycling event is meant to support the ‘Removing Obstacles to Cervical Screening’ (ROSE) programme.
According to the association, online donations have been funding the awareness and cervical screening programmes conducted under ROSE in Kapit, Miri, Bintulu, Kuching, and Puncak Borneo.
“The screenings had started earlier in March this year, covering the underprivileged communities in Kapit, and additional screenings are being planned in the months leading up to this charity event.
“Cervical cancer ranks as the third most common cancer among women in Malaysia, with the highest incidence recorded in Sarawak,” said MMA in a statement.
ROSE Foundation founding trustee Prof Woo Yin Ling expressed her gratitude for the chance to partner with MMA in raising public awareness of the human papillomavirus (HPV) screenings in Sarawak.
“Continuing our partnership enhances our ability to reach women across Sarawak, advancing our unified goal of accelerating cervical cancer elimination throughout Malaysia.
“MMA’s support for ROSE programme reinforces the need for a collective societal effort across all sectors to achieve the goal of making Sarawak and Malaysia cervical cancer-free in the near future.”
Meanwhile, MMA president Dr Azizan Abdul Aziz expressed delight in collaborating once more with the ROSE Foundation, emphasising awareness on cervical cancer could save lives given its preventable nature and effective treatment options when detected early.
“Collaborating with the ROSE Foundation, our focus is on Sarawak given its highest incidence of cervical cancer at 9.6 cases per 100,000 women, as reported by the Malaysian National Cancer Registry.
“These alarming rates underscore the urgency of increasing awareness and HPV screening efforts in the state.
“We are counting on the public and corporate support for the Sepeda Amal Borneo 2024 initiative because we truly believe that together, we can wipe out cervical cancer in both our state and country,” said Dr Azizan.
The ROSE Foundation, in a statement, said last year’s Sepeda Amal Borneo recorded 1,067 women being screened across 33 locations throughout Sarawak, with 80 – or 7.5 per cent of them – having tested positive for HPV.
So far, the programme has screened over 27,000 women nationwide with approximately 1,500 women tested as HPV positive.
The ROSE Foundation is a nonprofit organisation established in 2019 with the vision of elimination cervical cancer in Malaysia. For more information, go to www.programrose.org.
For more information on Sepeda Amal Borneo 2024, visit www.mma.org.my/sepeda-amalborneo-2024/.