Friday, November 12, 2010

Free Mammogram For 1 Million Women In Selangor

Do you know breast cancer is the most common form of cancer afflicting Malaysian women of all races. Breast cancer doesn’t discriminate - whether you’re Malay, Indian, Chinese or everything in-between.

Breast Cancer in Malaysia – the stark facts
* Breast cancer was the commonest overall cancer as well as the commonest cancer in women amongst all races from the age of 20 years in Malaysia for 2003 to 2005.
* Breast cancer is most common in the Chinese, followed by the Indians and then, Malays.
* Breast cancer formed 31.1% of newly diagnosed cancer cases in women in 2003-2005.
* The Age Standardised Rate (ASR) of female breast cancer is 47.4 per 100,000 population (National Cancer Registry Report 2003-2005). Amongst the Chinese, it is higher at 59.9 per 100,000 population, for the Indians, the ASR is 54.2 per 100,000 and it is lowest in the Malays at 34.9 per 100,000 population.
* A woman in Malaysia has a 1 in 20 chance of getting breast cancer in her lifetime
* The cumulative life time risk of developing breast cancer for Chinese women, Indian women and Malay women were 1 in 16, 1 in 17 and 1 in 28 respectively.
* The peak incidence appeared to be 50-59 years old.

Over the years from 1993 to 2003, there were a total of 1818 breast cancer patients in the University Hospital. The number of breast cancer patients increased annually, with the highest recorded in 2003. This was 6 times the number of breast cancer patients in 1993.

Breast cancer is more common in Chinese women compared to Malay women. 2% of these patients were below 30 years of age. The majority of the cancer patients were in the 40-49 year age group when they were first diagnosed. However, this is NOT age-specific incidence but hospital incidence that could be influenced by the population it serves. Perhaps, there is a younger urban population or perhaps, the older folks prefer traditional/kampung treatment. 30-40% of the patients presented in the late stage and although women are now presenting with smaller tumours, the decrease in size is not significant. (Source: http://www.radiologymalaysia.org)

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The Selangor State Government launches a new scheme under its "Merakyatkan Ekonomi Selangor" to cater for the health of women.

The scheme is named as "1 million Healthy Selangor Women Campaign - Women Health Scheme" or "MammoSEL"

The State Government under its Women Affairs Standing Committee is providing free mammogram screening for ladies who are 40 years old or above.

For women residing in DUN Kampung Tunku, please call the ADUN's office for registration at 03-78754724. Members of the public can also call toll free hotline at 1300-800-800 for more information.

The program will be a monthly program in DUN Kampung Tunku on eveery 20th of each month. Transportation will be provided.

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