Addressing Sabah's cancer issues
Published on: Friday, February 12, 2016
Kota Kinabalu: The recent Malaysian Experience Exchange for Patient Organisations (MEEPO) Capacity Building Workshop shed light on the multiple problems confronting Sabah in cancer care and treatment although Sabah boasts a RM224 million Nuclear Medicine, Radiotherapy and Oncology Centre housed at the Sabah Women and Children's Hospital.Stark gaps exist in cancer care services in the State."This is especially so in respect of the rural people's lack of access to facilities and services for cancer treatment.
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Obviously, medical equipment for screening (examples, mammography unit and computed tomography (CT) scanner, etc) and machines for treatment are inadequate, especially in the districts," said Dr Chiam Poh Jeann who represented Workshop Discussion Group Two.The Group listed out seven other problems that need to be addressed.- There are only two clinical oncologists serving in the public sector in the whole of Sabah.- Financial issues are critical too.
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- l Logistics needs to be improved to enable patients from distant places to travel to the government hospital for treatment.- Lodging must be provided for those who require regular follow-up treatment but have no relatives or friends in town.
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- Lack of support to caregivers and patients.- Strong belief in alternative treatment, thus jeopardising the chances of cure.- Lack of public awareness about cancer and treatment options.There was also a suggestion to engage cancer patients who failed traditional treatment (ubat kampong) to advise others not to go for it but to opt for medical treatment (examples, surgery, chemotherapy and radiotherapy).Echoing similar sentiments was Workshop Discussion Group Four whose representative, QEH2 Sister Nurizatti Cheng touched on the lack of medical services in the rural areas."We need more medical equipment for health screening. There is also a glaring shortage of oncologists in Sabah. Neither do we have a Positron Emission Tomography (PET) scan machine for imaging purposes. Patients have to be referred to Kuala Lumpur or Pulau Pinang for such service," she lamented.Lack of transportation poses another challenge to healthcare, she added.The Group also called for the provision of a mobile screening facility to ensure that women do not miss out on the breast cancer screening exercise.Workshop Group One came up with the proposal to recruit advocates for the Together Against Cancer Association Malaysia (TAC) campaign to fight cancer collectively.Representative Cecilia Chong said recruitment is possible through the social media, using channels like Facebook, Twitter and WhatsApp apart from the print and electronic media such as newspapers and RTM (Radio & Television)."Patient organisations can be partners in advocacy by advocating adequate health services to improve healthcare for Malaysians. Cancer patients and survivors can talk about their experience whereby we can find out their complaints, issues and unmet needs in healthcare," she said, adding that public talks are another avenue to reach out to the community.Chong, who is the State Manager of Sabah Family Planning Association, said her Group was in favour of using the social media to implement change by creating a "chat group" for example.And one target group for change could be rural community leaders such as village headmen. "They can play an effective role in disseminating the message on early detection and treatment for breast cancer at the grassroots level."Workshop Discussion Group, led by Kinabalu Pink Ribbon (KPR) Technical Adviser Dr Anita Boay, advocates changes such as enhanced public awareness on breast cancer in both the urban and rural areas."In this regard, it will be beneficial if more medical camps are held by healthcare providers. Support from relevant non-governmental organisations (NGOs) is equally important," she said.For advocacy work, the Group would like to partner with the National Population and Family Development Board (LPPKN), corporate bodies under their corporate social responsibility (CSR) programme, and philanthropists.Stay up-to-date by following Daily Express’s Telegram channel.
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