KUALA LUMPUR, May 31 — RM20 million has been allocated to continue providing free cancer screening under the government’s women’s health programme in government hospitals and clinics.
Deputy Minister of Women, Family and Community Development Hannah Yeoh stated that these subsidised screenings are for Human Papilloma Virus (HPV) vaccinations (RM5 million), mammogram tests (RM11.4 million) and for a pilot cervical cancer programme (RM3.6 million).
These tests would fall under the services available at the National Population and Family Development Board (LPPKN) Nur Sejahtera Clinics.
The allocation has been provided under the national Budget 2019.
The Penang state government also provided an additional RM2.658 million allocation.
In her speech at the signing of a memorandum of understanding between the Penang state government and Penang LPPKN, Yeoh highlighted that Penang had the highest number of recorded breast cancer cases among women at 50 cases per 100,000. This was followed by Kuala Lumpur and Putrajaya with 42 cases per 100,000.
This, she said, was due to the high level of awareness of breast cancer in Penang, resulting in women seeking early treatment in government hospitals and clinics.
She also stated that this year’s LPPKN mammogram programme would target 47,000 women from the lower income group.