Cancer is a very terrifying thing and it’s always sad to hear about it affecting someone.
Cervical cancer has the 3rd most amount of cases within Malaysian women
On 17 January, Women, Family and Community Development Deputy Minister, Datuk Siti Zailah Mohd Yusoff said that cervical cancer has the 3rd most number of cases recorded among Malaysian women.
Other than that, the top 2 types of cancer that affect Malaysian women the most are breast and ovarian cancer, reported BERNAMA.
Kes kanser serviks ketiga tertinggi, peratusan jalani pap smear masih rendah https://t.co/f0iR3KPmaE pic.twitter.com/NzVDCgq4if
— BERNAMA (@bernamadotcom) January 17, 2022
The deputy minister has said that the government had allocated RM11.5 million in the 2022 Budget to conduct breast and cervical cancer screening nationwide.
However, there is still a very low percentage of women who go for pap smears and 80% of Malaysian women had never gone for any mammogram screenings.
The deputy hopes that more women will take the chance to undergo screening for early detection.
“Don’t wait until the condition is critical, then only you go for screening. Instead, take the opportunity given to you.”
Why don’t women go for pap smears?
Netizens on Twitter have an inkling as to why there is a low percentage of women who go to pap smears.
“Of course, it is low when some doctors and nurses are still being judgemental! For those who are single and want a pap smear, they think that we are sexually active. Do we need to wait until we’re sexually active to do the test? What about those single women who have a family history? My mom also encouraged me to do it.”
“There are also some doctors who deny requests for pap smear if unmarried. Is it ethical to deny women of the right to undergo a medical examination?”
This issue has been raised a month back by the All Women’s Action Society Malaysia (AWAM Malaysia).
Program ROSE
Other than a pap smear, there is also another kind of procedure in the form of a swab offered by Program ROSE that a woman can get in order to screen for HPV which is the main cause of cervical cancer.
Under the ROSE Program, a Malaysian woman aged 30-65 who is in the B50 category and has never had a hysterectomy, can get tested for free at The Red Clinic, Klinik Rakyat PJ or the ROSE Program Office Building (by appointment only, call 03-8408 2211).
For those who are in a better financial situation, they can go to the ROSE Program Office Building (by appointment only, call 03-8408 2211) for a test which costs RM250. For more information, check out their website.
According to WHO, cervical cancer is the 4th most common cancer among women globally and if detected early, it can be cured.
So, it is important for women to have easy access to pap smears and other screening tests in order to detect any cancer in the early stages.
This video might be able to show you how important it is to get a pap smear.
Also read: Unmarried Malaysian Women Share Experience Of Discrimination By Doctors During Pap Smear
