Rethink mammogram subsidy halt, urges PKR
Published on: Thursday, June 23, 2016
Kota Kinabalu: PKR's Inanam Assemblyman Dr Roland Chia on Tuesday said the end of the mammogram subsidy will be a setback for the health and wellbeing of women in Sabah.He said women from poor families will be most hit when the subsidy is ended this August, many of whom live below the poverty line in rural areas and do not enjoy a steady source of income. "Without the screening subsidy, many underprivileged women will not have the mammogram done, hence we won't be able to detect early breast cancer.
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"The rate of death from breast cancer will surely rise if we are not able to detect early," he said in a statement here. Dr Chia who is also PKR Sepanggar Chief said this during a breaking-of-fast programme organised by PKR Sepanggar Division held in the Polytechnic Commercial Centre, Karambunai. Sabah currently only has mammogram machines at Queen Elizabeth Hospital I and II, and the Likas Women and Child Hospital and Chia said these hospitals could not cater to all women in the State, adding the present wait list is already "long." The subsidy allows women to carry mammogram screenings in private hospitals, where the present charges for mammogram is more than RM200 per screening.
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The National Population and Family Development Board, which is under the Women, Family and Community Development Ministry, has been organising medical camps for rural areas and provides for the subsidised mammogram and also subsidised birth control.They currently operate from Kinik Nur Sejahtera, branches in Kota Kinabalu, Sandakan, Semporna and Labuan.
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Chia said Deputy Minister Datuk Azizah Mohd Dun, being a Sabahan must step in to put a stop to such plans, citing it was her own admission in 2014, that about 19.4 per cent of every 100,000 women in the State are suffering from breast cancer, and thus the subsidy is very much needed. Furthermore, he said that it was Azizah who also cited the statistics from the National Cancer Registry Reports that Sabah has the highest percentage of breast cancer, which is 21.3 per cent compared to other types of cancer.Stay up-to-date by following Daily Express’s Telegram channel.
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