Thursday June 23/16
BY ADMIN
www.sabahinsider14.blogspot.com
Media
Statement : Cessation of MAMMOGRAM Subsidy is a setback for health and
wellbeing of Women in Sabah.
YANG
BERHORMAT Dr Roland Chia Ming Shen – PKR
State Assemblyman for Inanam is upset and questioned the cessation of subsidy
for mammogram screening for women with effect August 2016 in Malaysia
especially the State of Sabah under National Population and Family Development
Board (Lembaga Penduduk dan Pembangunan Keluarga Negara LPKKN ) under the wings
of Federal Ministry of Women, Family and Community Development.
I am also surprised why there were no BN
Component parties coming out to voice these concerns as these directly involves
the wellbeing of our women in Sabah.
YB
Dr Roland Chia who is also PKR Sepanggar Chief was making this statement during
the Breaking Fast Programme organised by PKR Sepanggar Division held in
Polytechnic Commercial Centre, Karambunai.
In
attendance was more than 40 members of Persatuan Ibu-Ibu Tunggal Karambunai
(PITKA) led by her President Pn Zainaba Syukur Ali. The members received
Ramadhan aids from leadership team of PKR Sepanggar.
The
cessation of the health subsidy is indeed a setback for the wellbeing and
health of our underprivileged women in our country and our state of Sabah. Many
of whom lived below the poverty line, lives in rural areas and do not have a
steady source of income especially in these times of economic hardships.
Without
the screening mammogram, many underprivileged women will not have mammogram
done, hence we won’t be able to detect early breast cancer. The rate of death
from breast cancer will surely rise if we are not able to detect early
The
government hospital only have mammogram machines in Queen Elizabeth Hospital 1
and 2 and Likas Women and Child Hospital in Likas and there are no other
hospitals in the state of Sabah.
To
add salt onto injury with these hospitals cannot cater to all the women in
Sabah, the waiting list will be too long. With the subsidized mammogram
screenings , women can have it done in private hospital otherwise the poor
women have to pay more than RM200 for a mammogram to be done in private
hospitals.
I
urged the Deputy Minister concern who is also a Sabahan to reverse this
decision to reinstate back the subsidy for mammogram screening and it is by her
own admission back in 2014 that about 19.4 per cent of 100,000 women in Sabah
are suffering from breast cancer.
Citing
the figure from the National Cancer Registry Reports, Deputy Women, Family and
Community Development Minister Datuk Azizah Mohd Dun said Sabah also recorded
the highest percentage of breast cancer, which is 21.3 per cent compared to
other types of cancer.
In
Malaysia, one of every nine women is at high risk of having breast cancer, and
the national figure shows that 32.2 per cent out of 100,000 women are suffering
from this illness.
According to the statistics also, the
percentage of women finding out they are having the highest stage of cancer is
increasing.
In
2008, a total of 3,209 new cases of breast cancer were found in Malaysia where
20.4 per cent of them are in stage one, 38.8 per cent in stage two, 21.8 per
cent in stage three and 19 per cent are in stage four.
Women
between the ages of 50 to 60 are the group with the highest risk of having
breast cancer. That is why we need to spread the awareness about this
particular cancer and make sure all women in Sabah are able to have annual
mammogram and seek medical consultation if they find anything unusual in their
breasts,” said Azizah.
LPPKN
started in 2007, been in Sabah since 2009 they operate from Kinik Nur
Sejahtera, branches in KK, Sandakan, Semporna and Labuan. They organize medical
camps for rural areas and provide subsidized mammogram and also subsidized
birth control.
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