KUCHING, Aug 19: One in 29 women in Malaysia will develop breast cancer, while in Sarawak only 398 cases from a population of 1.2 million women were reported to the Oncology Unit of Sarawak General Hospital (SGH) until 2019 with a small number in private hospitals.
Consultant Breast and Endocrine surgeon Dr Adibah Ali raised concerns that the statistics showed that there were fewer cases reported or diagnosed due to the very low level of awareness in the community in the State.
“Early diagnosis of breast cancer is very important to increase survival rate,” she emphasised in a statement.
Dr Adibah on Wednesday (Aug 17) led a delegation from the SGH Breast and Endocrine Surgery Unit to pay a courtesy call on Minister of Women, Childhood and Community Wellbeing Development Dato Sri Fatimah Abdullah at her office in Baitulmakmur Building 2 here.
Women and Family Department director Salmah Jobeli was also present.
During the call, Dr Adibah briefed Fatimah on the statistics, programmes and efforts by SGH to raise awareness about breast cancer especially among rural communities.
She also extended an invitation to Fatimah to officiate at the Pink Charity Run 2022, themed “Know More, Fear Less”, to be held in conjunction with Breast Cancer Awareness Month on Oct 16. — DayakDaily
