Early detection imperative
INTAN MAIZURA AHMAD KAMAL
Breast cancer patients stand the best chance for a cure with early detection, Dr Azlina Firzah Abdul Aziz tells INTAN MAIZURA AHMAD KAMAL
HER eyes tear as she talks about people dearest to her who have breast cancer. Although she deals with cancer patients everyday, Dr Azlina Firzah Abdul Aziz still finds it a little too much to bear to have a relative suffer the same fate.
“It’s not easy,” whispers the consultant breast surgeon at the Breast Care Centre in Pantai Hospital, KL, dabbing the corners of her eyes. “It’s truly a grounding effect when you see what they have to go through.”
What frustrates Azlina is that breast cancer has the best chances for a cure, yet there are still people who leave it too late. “They don’t understand the importance of early detection,” she says with a sigh. “The level of awareness is admittedly much better than say, 10 years ago, but we still have women coming in at stage 4, when the cancer has spread to other organs.”
Of the total number of female cancer patients in the country, about 30 per cent have breast cancer, reveals the 44-year-old mother of three.
The highest incidence is in Chinese women, particularly those in their 40s and 50s. This is actually a younger age group. For Caucasian women, for whom breast cancer is a post-menopausal disease.
“If I had my way, I’d have schoolgirls charting their menstruation and examining their breasts as soon as they hit puberty,” says Azlina, who was previously attached to Selayang Hospital. “I’ve had patients below 15 years old with benign (non-cancerous tumours). Although breast cancer rarely happens in those below 20, if they don’t know how to check their breasts, they won’t know about the changes that can happen.”
Early detection saves lives, stresses Azlina. “If they come to us when the lump is below 2cm, stage 1, the chance of survival is almost 100 per cent. When you’re already at stage 4, there’s no cure. The most you can do is prolong survival time.”
She adds: “We can give chemotherapy and drugs to kill the cancer cells but these are very expensive. Even in government hospitals, they’re limited. If you go for chemo, your survival period may run from one to four years. But this depends on where the cancer has spread to.
“If it involves the liver and it’s damaged, it’s tough. If it spreads to the brain, it’s worse.”
What advice does she have for those living with someone with cancer?
“Get help,” she says. “Don’t try to cope alone. There are many NGOs like Hospice Malaysia, which can assist. They don’t charge for their services and sometimes they’d even loan equipment. Even if somebody is in stage 4, you can make it comfortable for them.”
For breast cancer survivors, it’s important they make the time to join support groups, she adds. “There are many things they can learn to help improve their life. You can cope better if you know how. Don’t suffer in silence.”
Wednesday, December 16, 2009
Wednesday, November 11, 2009
Bagaikan hukuman mati
Bagaikan hukuman mati
Oleh Azida Shaharuddin
HUBUNGAN Siti Fatimah dengan Narimah bertambah rapat selepas bapanya meninggal dunia dan ibunya menghidap barah payu dara.
Dua beranak kongsi pengalaman berdepan barah payu dara
ANAK mana yang tidak sayangkan ibunya. Jika ibu sanggup melakukan apa saja waima berkorban harta dan nyawa demi kebahagiaan anaknya, begitu juga dengan kasih sayang seorang anak terhadap ibu tercinta. Sakit si ibu, sakit jugalah yang dirasai anak berkenaan.
Itulah yang dirasai Siti Fatimah Noor Abdul Aziz, sebaik mengetahui ibunya, Narimah Juffery, menghidap barah payu dara. Walaupun ibunya agak tenang ketika memaklumkan khabar buruk berkenaan, Siti Fatimah pula yang menangis sepuas-puasnya mengenangkan nasib ibunya.
Akui gadis berusia 28 tahun itu, beliau bagaikan turut mahu berkongsi sama pengalaman yang dilalui ibunya. Baginya, khabar buruk itu bagaikan satu hukuman mati yang cukup menakutkan.
Siti Fatimah yang bekerja sebagai Eksekutif Teknologi Maklumat (IT) merangkap pensyarah IT di Cosmopoint Sdn Bhd cawangan Johor Bahru berkata, beliau mula mengetahui keadaan ibunya itu selepas menduduki Sijil Pelajaran Malaysia (SPM), 10 tahun lalu.
Ketika itu, Siti Fatimah menemani ibunya, Narimah mengikuti kursus mengenai barah serviks dan payu dara, yang diadakan untuk ibu tunggal. Selepas menghadiri kursus berkenaan, ibunya menyedari ada ketulan pada payu dara sebelah kirinya.
"Ketika menemani ibu ke Hospital Pakar Johor, doktor memberitahu ibu perlu membuang seluruh payu dara kirinya... Saya terus menangis, tapi ibu tidak pula. Sebaliknya beliau tenang saja," katanya ketika ditemui di kediamannya di Bandar Baru Uda, Johor Bahru, baru-baru ini
Sejak itu, beliau kerap menemani ibunya berjumpa doktor mahupun mendapatkan rawatan di klinik dan hospital. Malah, selepas pembedahan ibunya, beliau akan menjadi pemandu bagi Narimah terutama ke tempat kerja di Sekolah Agama Taman Perling, Johor Bahru selain menjaga semua makan dan minum wanita itu antaranya memasak lauk sayur bening (tidak ditumis) dan antara lain ikan rebus bakar, supaya luka pembedahan ibunya cepat sembuh.
"Keadaan berbeza berbanding dulu apabila saya lebih rapat dengan bapa, namun selepas bapa meninggal dunia dan ibu pula sakit, hubungan kami menjadi semakin rapat, dan hati semakin sayang kepadanya.
"Kami seolah-olah menjadi kawan baik, langsung tidak boleh berenggang dan ke mana saja dekat mahupun jauh, pasti berdua. Teringat ketika ibu menyertai satu kursus seharian di Kota Tinggi, saya berasa resah ibu pulang lambat sedangkan ketika itu hari tidak begitu lewat," katanya.
Menyelitkan kisahnya sendiri, Narimah, 57, berkata beliau percaya mendapat penyakit itu kerana sifatnya yang sering kesedihan terutama selepas suaminya, Abdul Aziz Abdul Rahman meninggal dunia pada 31 Mei 1998 lalu selepas hidup bersama selama 25 tahun.
“Saya terus berubah karektor menjadi murung sepanjang masa. Perasaan sedih dan hiba dibawa setiap hari sehinggakan ketika memulakan enjin kenderaan hendak ke tempat kerja saja sudah menangis hingga tiba di sekolah. Malah sekiranya berjumpa sesiapa dan mereka sebut nama arwah pun saya gagal menahan perasaan dan terus menangis," katanya mengakui keadaan itu berlarutan sehingga enam bulan, sebelum mendapat tahu dirinya menghidap barah pada Julai 1999.
Ibu tunggal itu berkata, melihat dirinya pada cermin selepas kursus terbabit, beliau menyedari ada ketumbuhan sebesar kira-kira seinci pada payu dara sebelah kiri, lalu berjumpa doktor di klinik berdekatan rumah sebelum dirujuk ke Hospital Sultanah Aminah (HSA).
Selepas membuat pemeriksaan biopsi bagi mengambil tisu ketumbuhan pada 19 Jun 1999, doktor menghubunginya dan mengesahkan Narimah menghidap barah payu dara Tahap 1, dua minggu kemudian.
"Ketika mendapat berita itu, entah kenapa saya tidak sedih, sebaliknya saya mula mengamalkan perubatan Islam, iaitu mengisar lempoyang dan kurma yang diperah dengan kain sebelum jusnya diminum setiap hari.
"Saya dapati lama kelamaan ketumbuhan itu semakin kempis dan tidak terbonjol seperti sebelum ini. Berikutan itu saya meminta doktor melakukan pemeriksaan semula, namun disebabkan jadual penuh, saya terpaksa bertukar ke Hospital Pakar Johor pada Ogos tahun sama,” katanya.
Di hospital swasta itu, doktor tidak mencadangkannya melakukan biopsi kerana menyatakan ketulan kecil saja, sebaliknya terus melakukan pembedahan membuang ketumbuhan pada kos RM1,800.
"Namun tiga hari selepas itu, Dr Ismail mengesahkan saya menghidap barah dan mencadangkan supaya membuang keseluruhan payu dara sebelah kiri dan saya bersetuju. Dengan gaji ketika itu kurang RM1,000 dan menjadi ibu tunggal, saya bersyukur kos rawatan dan pembedahan ditanggung syarikat insurans sebanyak RM10,000," katanya.
Ibu kepada dua anak dan empat cucu itu berkata, sebulan selepas pembedahan beliau perlu menjalani rawatan kemoterapi sebanyak 12 kali, namun beliau hanya melalui rawatan itu sekali saja, dan berkat zikir selama tiga jam sepanjang rawatan itu beliau langsung tidak berasa loya mahupun muntah.
Begitu pun, seminggu selepas itu, Narimah mengakui badannya bertukar lemah seperti keadaan mabuk mengandung dan kurang selera makan.
"Ketika itu seorang kawan mencadangkan saya mengambil herba yang disediakan khas untuk penyakit barah selain mengamalkan perubatan Islam berzikir 'Serah Diri' dengan purata tiga jam sehari bertujuan memberi kekuatan dalaman.
"Sejak itu, saya langsung tidak lagi mengikuti rawatan kimoterapi sehingga 2003, apabila mendapatkan pemeriksaan kesihatan kerana kenaikan pangkat, doktor mengesahkan saya bebas barah," katanya.
Menyimpulkan kemungkinan Tuhan sayang padanya, hidup beliau kembali normal selepas bebas penyakit itu dan tidak lagi menjadikan sifat sedih satu amalan.
Oleh Azida Shaharuddin
HUBUNGAN Siti Fatimah dengan Narimah bertambah rapat selepas bapanya meninggal dunia dan ibunya menghidap barah payu dara.
Dua beranak kongsi pengalaman berdepan barah payu dara
ANAK mana yang tidak sayangkan ibunya. Jika ibu sanggup melakukan apa saja waima berkorban harta dan nyawa demi kebahagiaan anaknya, begitu juga dengan kasih sayang seorang anak terhadap ibu tercinta. Sakit si ibu, sakit jugalah yang dirasai anak berkenaan.
Itulah yang dirasai Siti Fatimah Noor Abdul Aziz, sebaik mengetahui ibunya, Narimah Juffery, menghidap barah payu dara. Walaupun ibunya agak tenang ketika memaklumkan khabar buruk berkenaan, Siti Fatimah pula yang menangis sepuas-puasnya mengenangkan nasib ibunya.
Akui gadis berusia 28 tahun itu, beliau bagaikan turut mahu berkongsi sama pengalaman yang dilalui ibunya. Baginya, khabar buruk itu bagaikan satu hukuman mati yang cukup menakutkan.
Siti Fatimah yang bekerja sebagai Eksekutif Teknologi Maklumat (IT) merangkap pensyarah IT di Cosmopoint Sdn Bhd cawangan Johor Bahru berkata, beliau mula mengetahui keadaan ibunya itu selepas menduduki Sijil Pelajaran Malaysia (SPM), 10 tahun lalu.
Ketika itu, Siti Fatimah menemani ibunya, Narimah mengikuti kursus mengenai barah serviks dan payu dara, yang diadakan untuk ibu tunggal. Selepas menghadiri kursus berkenaan, ibunya menyedari ada ketulan pada payu dara sebelah kirinya.
"Ketika menemani ibu ke Hospital Pakar Johor, doktor memberitahu ibu perlu membuang seluruh payu dara kirinya... Saya terus menangis, tapi ibu tidak pula. Sebaliknya beliau tenang saja," katanya ketika ditemui di kediamannya di Bandar Baru Uda, Johor Bahru, baru-baru ini
Sejak itu, beliau kerap menemani ibunya berjumpa doktor mahupun mendapatkan rawatan di klinik dan hospital. Malah, selepas pembedahan ibunya, beliau akan menjadi pemandu bagi Narimah terutama ke tempat kerja di Sekolah Agama Taman Perling, Johor Bahru selain menjaga semua makan dan minum wanita itu antaranya memasak lauk sayur bening (tidak ditumis) dan antara lain ikan rebus bakar, supaya luka pembedahan ibunya cepat sembuh.
"Keadaan berbeza berbanding dulu apabila saya lebih rapat dengan bapa, namun selepas bapa meninggal dunia dan ibu pula sakit, hubungan kami menjadi semakin rapat, dan hati semakin sayang kepadanya.
"Kami seolah-olah menjadi kawan baik, langsung tidak boleh berenggang dan ke mana saja dekat mahupun jauh, pasti berdua. Teringat ketika ibu menyertai satu kursus seharian di Kota Tinggi, saya berasa resah ibu pulang lambat sedangkan ketika itu hari tidak begitu lewat," katanya.
Menyelitkan kisahnya sendiri, Narimah, 57, berkata beliau percaya mendapat penyakit itu kerana sifatnya yang sering kesedihan terutama selepas suaminya, Abdul Aziz Abdul Rahman meninggal dunia pada 31 Mei 1998 lalu selepas hidup bersama selama 25 tahun.
“Saya terus berubah karektor menjadi murung sepanjang masa. Perasaan sedih dan hiba dibawa setiap hari sehinggakan ketika memulakan enjin kenderaan hendak ke tempat kerja saja sudah menangis hingga tiba di sekolah. Malah sekiranya berjumpa sesiapa dan mereka sebut nama arwah pun saya gagal menahan perasaan dan terus menangis," katanya mengakui keadaan itu berlarutan sehingga enam bulan, sebelum mendapat tahu dirinya menghidap barah pada Julai 1999.
Ibu tunggal itu berkata, melihat dirinya pada cermin selepas kursus terbabit, beliau menyedari ada ketumbuhan sebesar kira-kira seinci pada payu dara sebelah kiri, lalu berjumpa doktor di klinik berdekatan rumah sebelum dirujuk ke Hospital Sultanah Aminah (HSA).
Selepas membuat pemeriksaan biopsi bagi mengambil tisu ketumbuhan pada 19 Jun 1999, doktor menghubunginya dan mengesahkan Narimah menghidap barah payu dara Tahap 1, dua minggu kemudian.
"Ketika mendapat berita itu, entah kenapa saya tidak sedih, sebaliknya saya mula mengamalkan perubatan Islam, iaitu mengisar lempoyang dan kurma yang diperah dengan kain sebelum jusnya diminum setiap hari.
"Saya dapati lama kelamaan ketumbuhan itu semakin kempis dan tidak terbonjol seperti sebelum ini. Berikutan itu saya meminta doktor melakukan pemeriksaan semula, namun disebabkan jadual penuh, saya terpaksa bertukar ke Hospital Pakar Johor pada Ogos tahun sama,” katanya.
Di hospital swasta itu, doktor tidak mencadangkannya melakukan biopsi kerana menyatakan ketulan kecil saja, sebaliknya terus melakukan pembedahan membuang ketumbuhan pada kos RM1,800.
"Namun tiga hari selepas itu, Dr Ismail mengesahkan saya menghidap barah dan mencadangkan supaya membuang keseluruhan payu dara sebelah kiri dan saya bersetuju. Dengan gaji ketika itu kurang RM1,000 dan menjadi ibu tunggal, saya bersyukur kos rawatan dan pembedahan ditanggung syarikat insurans sebanyak RM10,000," katanya.
Ibu kepada dua anak dan empat cucu itu berkata, sebulan selepas pembedahan beliau perlu menjalani rawatan kemoterapi sebanyak 12 kali, namun beliau hanya melalui rawatan itu sekali saja, dan berkat zikir selama tiga jam sepanjang rawatan itu beliau langsung tidak berasa loya mahupun muntah.
Begitu pun, seminggu selepas itu, Narimah mengakui badannya bertukar lemah seperti keadaan mabuk mengandung dan kurang selera makan.
"Ketika itu seorang kawan mencadangkan saya mengambil herba yang disediakan khas untuk penyakit barah selain mengamalkan perubatan Islam berzikir 'Serah Diri' dengan purata tiga jam sehari bertujuan memberi kekuatan dalaman.
"Sejak itu, saya langsung tidak lagi mengikuti rawatan kimoterapi sehingga 2003, apabila mendapatkan pemeriksaan kesihatan kerana kenaikan pangkat, doktor mengesahkan saya bebas barah," katanya.
Menyimpulkan kemungkinan Tuhan sayang padanya, hidup beliau kembali normal selepas bebas penyakit itu dan tidak lagi menjadikan sifat sedih satu amalan.
Pengesanan awal selamatkan nyawa
Pemakanan & Kesihatan: Pengesanan awal selamatkan nyawa
Oleh Fadzlena Jafar
Wanita digesa lakukan pemeriksaan barah payu dara sendiri selain segera bertemu doktor untuk rawatan
PENGALAMAN menakutkan pesakit barah ketika melakukan rawatan kemoterapi, selain stigma masyarakat terhadap wanita yang terpaksa membuang payu daranya dikenal pasti antara punca ramai wanita enggan mendapatkan rawatan perubatan moden.
Malah, ada pesakit yang mengambil keputusan berkenaan walaupun ketika didiagnos mereka hanya berada pada tahap satu yang mana peluang untuk sembuh hampir 100 peratus.
Bagaimanapun, Pakar Bedah Payu Dara Hospital Pantai Kuala Lumpur (HPKL), Dr Azlina Firzah Abdul Aziz, berkata ada pesakit yang membuat pilihan dengan mengamalkan perubatan alternatif seperti mengambil herba tanpa menyedari amalan itu menyebabkan keadaan mereka semakin kritikal.
“Kajian mendapati, kebanyakan pesakit di Malaysia lambat mendapatkan rawatan perubatan yang betul kerana meminta nasihat daripada individu tidak terlatih atau menawarkan pilihan dengan menjanjikan kaedah seperti herba dan suplemen, kononnya dapat mengelakkan pembedahan.
“Janji diberikan pasti menarik pesakit terutama yang takut akan pembedahan dan komplikasi akibat rawatan seperti kemoterapi. Inilah yang menyebabkan ramai yang akhirnya datang kepada kita dalam keadaan yang sudah teruk sehingga peluang sembuh agak tipis,” katanya pada majlis pelancaran kempen kesedaran Wear It Pink 2009 anjuran HPKL, baru-baru ini.
Kempen itu dilancarkan oleh Menteri Pembangunan, Keluarga dan Masyarakat, Datuk Seri Shahrizat Abdul Jalil. Turut hadir Pengerusi Pantai Holdings Berhad (Pantai Holdings), Tan Sri Mohamed Khatib Abdul Hamid; Pengarah Urusan Kumpulan Pantai Holdings, Faisal Ismail; Pengarah Eksekutif Divisyen Operasi Hospital, Pantai Holdings, Chan Boon Kheng; Ketua Pegawai Eksekutif HPKL, Tan Suet Guan; Presiden Avon Malaysia, Mansoor Wan Abdullah dan Presiden Persatuan Kebajikan Barah Payu Dara (BCWA), Ranjit Kaur.
Dianggarkan satu dalam 19 wanita di negara ini berisiko menghidap barah payu dara sekali dalam hidup mereka. Daftar Kanser Kebangsaan 2003-2005 menunjukkan pada tempoh itu sebanyak 11,952 kes baru barah payu dara dikesan, tetapi angka berkenaan dikatakan tidak memaparkan jumlah sebenar pesakit barah payu dara di negara ini memandangkan laporan kepada Daftar berkenaan tidak diwajibkan.
Ini bermakna jumlah yang betul mungkin jauh lebih tinggi terutama jika pesakit mendapatkan rawatan di hospital swasta mahupun perubatan alternatif.
Apa yang lebih membimbangkan, jika selama ini pesakit hanya membabitkan mereka yang sudah berusia khususnya di kalangan wanita menopaus, namun sejak kebelakangan ini semakin ramai gadis muda seawal usia belasan tahun turut dikesan menghidap penyakit yang dikatakan pembunuh nombor satu wanita itu.
Dr Azlina berkata, barah payu dara memberi kesan bukan saja kepada pesakit, bahkan setiap ahli keluarga dan rakan, selain menyebabkan kerugian kepada negara apabila ramai wanita terpaksa keluar daripada pasaran kerja bagi membolehkan mereka mendapatkan rawatan sewajarnya.
Beliau berkata, walaupun ketika ini ada pelbagai kempen kesedaran terhadap penyakit itu dilakukan, kempen seumpama itu perlu dipertingkatkan kerana pengesanan awal dapat memberikan rawatan lebih komprehensif.
“Kita melihat ada banyak kempen kesedaran dijalankan pelbagai pihak, baik kerajaan mahupun swasta. Percaya atau tidak, ia masih belum mencukupi kerana sehingga kini tiada kaedah tepat bagi mencegah barah payu dara dan tiada ujian darah bersesuaian bagi mengesan penyakit ini, tetapi dengan pengesanan awal khususnya di kalangan pesakit Tahap 1, peluang untuk bebas daripada penyakit itu bagi tempoh lima tahun berikutnya hampir 100 peratus.
“Malah, dengan rawatan awal diberikan, pesakit juga boleh mengelakkan mastektomi (pembedahan membuang seluruh payu dara yang mempunyai sel barah), selain mencegah rasa sakit akibat barah yang semakin serius atau membolehkan pesakit melakukan pembedahan membentuk semula payu dara jika mastektomi dijalankan,” katanya.
Sehubungan itu, beliau menggesa wanita supaya melakukan pemeriksaan payu dara sendiri, selain tampil berjumpa doktor mendapatkan pemeriksaan jika mendapati keganjilan pada payu dara mereka.
Kempen Wear It Pink 2009 anjuran HPKL itu mendapat kerjasama Avon (M) Sdn Bhd, jenama kecantikan terkenal yang aktif dalam pelbagai kempen kesedaran barah payu dara, malah mempunyai program khusus dinamakan Kiss Goodbye to Breast Cancer.
Pada majlis itu, HPKL turut menyerahkan cek berjumlah RM20,000 kepada Ranjit yang disampaikan Shahrizar. Selain itu, pengasas butik Pink Jambu, Tengku Marina Ibrahim turut mengumumkan 50 peratus daripada jualan barangan di butik berkenaan sepanjang Oktober dan November ini akan disalurkan bagi kempen Wear It Pink 2009.
Lelaki juga berisiko hidap barah payu dara
BARAH payu dara bukan saja membabitkan wanita, bahkan turut memberi kesan kepada lelaki. Selain perlu memberikan sokongan kepada isteri atau ibu yang menghidap penyakit berkenaan, lelaki juga perlu sedar bahawa barah payu dara bukan ‘milik’ wanita semata-mata kerana penyakit itu turut menyerang lelaki.
Jika statistik antarabangsa menyatakan lelaki merangkumi 1 peratus daripada jumlah keseluruhan pesakit barah payu dara, di Malaysia Daftar Kanser Kebangsaan 2003-2005 menunjukkan penghidap barah payu dara di kalangan lelaki agak tinggi dengan 257 atau 2.15 peratus kes dikesan.
Pengerusi Pantai Holdings Berhad (Pantai Holdings), Tan Sri Mohamed Khatib Abdul Hamid, berkata kebanyakan lelaki beranggapan barah payu dara adalah penyakit wanita tanpa menyedari mereka juga berisiko menghidap penyakit berkenaan.
“Kita mendapati di Malaysia khususnya, lelaki enggan menghadiri ceramah umum barah payu dara kerana menganggap tiada kaitan dengan mereka. Tetapi kita perlu menolak jauh tanggapan negatif ini kerana bukan saja barah payu dara memberi kesan kepada kita jika isteri, ibu atau anak perempuan menghidapnya, bahkan lelaki juga berisiko diserang barah payu dara.
“Justeru, kita perlu meningkatkan kesedaran di kalangan masyarakat akan risiko penyakit ini. Sesiapa saja boleh menghidapnya, malangnya di Malaysia latar belakang perubatan menunjukkan keadaan yang membimbangkan kerana kebanyakan pesakit hanya datang mendapatkan rawatan pada tahap kritikal,” katanya.
Bagi meningkatkan kesedaran terhadap kesan barah payu dara kepada masyarakat, HPKL menubuhkan Pusat Penjagaan Payu Dara (BCC) pada Mei 2007 dengan menawarkan rundingan membabitkan barah payu dara.
Selain kempen kesedaran tahunan, BCC turut menganjurkan forum awam, ceramah kesihatan di sektor korporat dan kem kesihatan di kawasan luar bandar sepanjang tahun.
Oleh Fadzlena Jafar
Wanita digesa lakukan pemeriksaan barah payu dara sendiri selain segera bertemu doktor untuk rawatan
PENGALAMAN menakutkan pesakit barah ketika melakukan rawatan kemoterapi, selain stigma masyarakat terhadap wanita yang terpaksa membuang payu daranya dikenal pasti antara punca ramai wanita enggan mendapatkan rawatan perubatan moden.
Malah, ada pesakit yang mengambil keputusan berkenaan walaupun ketika didiagnos mereka hanya berada pada tahap satu yang mana peluang untuk sembuh hampir 100 peratus.
Bagaimanapun, Pakar Bedah Payu Dara Hospital Pantai Kuala Lumpur (HPKL), Dr Azlina Firzah Abdul Aziz, berkata ada pesakit yang membuat pilihan dengan mengamalkan perubatan alternatif seperti mengambil herba tanpa menyedari amalan itu menyebabkan keadaan mereka semakin kritikal.
“Kajian mendapati, kebanyakan pesakit di Malaysia lambat mendapatkan rawatan perubatan yang betul kerana meminta nasihat daripada individu tidak terlatih atau menawarkan pilihan dengan menjanjikan kaedah seperti herba dan suplemen, kononnya dapat mengelakkan pembedahan.
“Janji diberikan pasti menarik pesakit terutama yang takut akan pembedahan dan komplikasi akibat rawatan seperti kemoterapi. Inilah yang menyebabkan ramai yang akhirnya datang kepada kita dalam keadaan yang sudah teruk sehingga peluang sembuh agak tipis,” katanya pada majlis pelancaran kempen kesedaran Wear It Pink 2009 anjuran HPKL, baru-baru ini.
Kempen itu dilancarkan oleh Menteri Pembangunan, Keluarga dan Masyarakat, Datuk Seri Shahrizat Abdul Jalil. Turut hadir Pengerusi Pantai Holdings Berhad (Pantai Holdings), Tan Sri Mohamed Khatib Abdul Hamid; Pengarah Urusan Kumpulan Pantai Holdings, Faisal Ismail; Pengarah Eksekutif Divisyen Operasi Hospital, Pantai Holdings, Chan Boon Kheng; Ketua Pegawai Eksekutif HPKL, Tan Suet Guan; Presiden Avon Malaysia, Mansoor Wan Abdullah dan Presiden Persatuan Kebajikan Barah Payu Dara (BCWA), Ranjit Kaur.
Dianggarkan satu dalam 19 wanita di negara ini berisiko menghidap barah payu dara sekali dalam hidup mereka. Daftar Kanser Kebangsaan 2003-2005 menunjukkan pada tempoh itu sebanyak 11,952 kes baru barah payu dara dikesan, tetapi angka berkenaan dikatakan tidak memaparkan jumlah sebenar pesakit barah payu dara di negara ini memandangkan laporan kepada Daftar berkenaan tidak diwajibkan.
Ini bermakna jumlah yang betul mungkin jauh lebih tinggi terutama jika pesakit mendapatkan rawatan di hospital swasta mahupun perubatan alternatif.
Apa yang lebih membimbangkan, jika selama ini pesakit hanya membabitkan mereka yang sudah berusia khususnya di kalangan wanita menopaus, namun sejak kebelakangan ini semakin ramai gadis muda seawal usia belasan tahun turut dikesan menghidap penyakit yang dikatakan pembunuh nombor satu wanita itu.
Dr Azlina berkata, barah payu dara memberi kesan bukan saja kepada pesakit, bahkan setiap ahli keluarga dan rakan, selain menyebabkan kerugian kepada negara apabila ramai wanita terpaksa keluar daripada pasaran kerja bagi membolehkan mereka mendapatkan rawatan sewajarnya.
Beliau berkata, walaupun ketika ini ada pelbagai kempen kesedaran terhadap penyakit itu dilakukan, kempen seumpama itu perlu dipertingkatkan kerana pengesanan awal dapat memberikan rawatan lebih komprehensif.
“Kita melihat ada banyak kempen kesedaran dijalankan pelbagai pihak, baik kerajaan mahupun swasta. Percaya atau tidak, ia masih belum mencukupi kerana sehingga kini tiada kaedah tepat bagi mencegah barah payu dara dan tiada ujian darah bersesuaian bagi mengesan penyakit ini, tetapi dengan pengesanan awal khususnya di kalangan pesakit Tahap 1, peluang untuk bebas daripada penyakit itu bagi tempoh lima tahun berikutnya hampir 100 peratus.
“Malah, dengan rawatan awal diberikan, pesakit juga boleh mengelakkan mastektomi (pembedahan membuang seluruh payu dara yang mempunyai sel barah), selain mencegah rasa sakit akibat barah yang semakin serius atau membolehkan pesakit melakukan pembedahan membentuk semula payu dara jika mastektomi dijalankan,” katanya.
Sehubungan itu, beliau menggesa wanita supaya melakukan pemeriksaan payu dara sendiri, selain tampil berjumpa doktor mendapatkan pemeriksaan jika mendapati keganjilan pada payu dara mereka.
Kempen Wear It Pink 2009 anjuran HPKL itu mendapat kerjasama Avon (M) Sdn Bhd, jenama kecantikan terkenal yang aktif dalam pelbagai kempen kesedaran barah payu dara, malah mempunyai program khusus dinamakan Kiss Goodbye to Breast Cancer.
Pada majlis itu, HPKL turut menyerahkan cek berjumlah RM20,000 kepada Ranjit yang disampaikan Shahrizar. Selain itu, pengasas butik Pink Jambu, Tengku Marina Ibrahim turut mengumumkan 50 peratus daripada jualan barangan di butik berkenaan sepanjang Oktober dan November ini akan disalurkan bagi kempen Wear It Pink 2009.
Lelaki juga berisiko hidap barah payu dara
BARAH payu dara bukan saja membabitkan wanita, bahkan turut memberi kesan kepada lelaki. Selain perlu memberikan sokongan kepada isteri atau ibu yang menghidap penyakit berkenaan, lelaki juga perlu sedar bahawa barah payu dara bukan ‘milik’ wanita semata-mata kerana penyakit itu turut menyerang lelaki.
Jika statistik antarabangsa menyatakan lelaki merangkumi 1 peratus daripada jumlah keseluruhan pesakit barah payu dara, di Malaysia Daftar Kanser Kebangsaan 2003-2005 menunjukkan penghidap barah payu dara di kalangan lelaki agak tinggi dengan 257 atau 2.15 peratus kes dikesan.
Pengerusi Pantai Holdings Berhad (Pantai Holdings), Tan Sri Mohamed Khatib Abdul Hamid, berkata kebanyakan lelaki beranggapan barah payu dara adalah penyakit wanita tanpa menyedari mereka juga berisiko menghidap penyakit berkenaan.
“Kita mendapati di Malaysia khususnya, lelaki enggan menghadiri ceramah umum barah payu dara kerana menganggap tiada kaitan dengan mereka. Tetapi kita perlu menolak jauh tanggapan negatif ini kerana bukan saja barah payu dara memberi kesan kepada kita jika isteri, ibu atau anak perempuan menghidapnya, bahkan lelaki juga berisiko diserang barah payu dara.
“Justeru, kita perlu meningkatkan kesedaran di kalangan masyarakat akan risiko penyakit ini. Sesiapa saja boleh menghidapnya, malangnya di Malaysia latar belakang perubatan menunjukkan keadaan yang membimbangkan kerana kebanyakan pesakit hanya datang mendapatkan rawatan pada tahap kritikal,” katanya.
Bagi meningkatkan kesedaran terhadap kesan barah payu dara kepada masyarakat, HPKL menubuhkan Pusat Penjagaan Payu Dara (BCC) pada Mei 2007 dengan menawarkan rundingan membabitkan barah payu dara.
Selain kempen kesedaran tahunan, BCC turut menganjurkan forum awam, ceramah kesihatan di sektor korporat dan kem kesihatan di kawasan luar bandar sepanjang tahun.
Friday, November 6, 2009
Pengesanan awal selamatkan nyawa
Berita Harian
Khamis, 05/11/2009
Pengesanan awal selamatkan nyawa
Oleh Fadzlena Jafar
Wanita digesa lakukan pemeriksaan barah payu dara sendiri selain segera bertemu doktor untuk rawatan
PENGALAMAN menakutkan pesakit barah ketika melakukan rawatan kemoterapi, selain stigma masyarakat terhadap wanita yang terpaksa membuang payu daranya dikenal pasti antara punca ramai wanita enggan mendapatkan rawatan perubatan moden.
Malah, ada pesakit yang mengambil keputusan berkenaan walaupun ketika didiagnos mereka hanya berada pada tahap satu yang mana peluang untuk sembuh hampir 100 peratus.
Bagaimanapun, Pakar Bedah Payu Dara Hospital Pantai Kuala Lumpur (HPKL), Dr. Azlina Firzah Abdul Aziz, berkata ada pesakit yang membuat pilihan dengan mengamalkan perubatan alternatif seperti mengambil herba tanpa menyedari amalan itu menyebabkan keadaan mereka semakin kritikal.
"Kajian mendapati, kebanyakan pesakit di Malaysia lambat mendapatkan rawatan perubatan yang betul kerana meminta nasihat daripada individu tidak terlatih atau menawarkan pilihan dengan menjanjikan kaedah seperti herba dan suplemen, kononnya dapat mengelakkan pembedahan.
"Janji diberikan pasti menarik pesakit terutama yang takut akan pembedahan dan komplikasi akibat rawatan seperti kemoterapi. Inilah yang menyebabkan ramai yang akhirnya datang kepada kita dalam keadaan yang sudah teruk sehingga peluang sembuh agak tipis," katanya pada majlis pelancaran kempen kesedaran 'Wear It Pink 2009' anjuran HPKL, baru-baru ini.
Kempen itu dilancarkan oleh Menteri Pembangunan, Keluarga dan Masyarakat, Datuk Seri Shahrizat Abdul Jalil. Turut hadir Pengerusi Pantai Holdings Berhad (Pantai Holdings), Tan Sri Mohamed Khatib Abdul Hamid; Pengarah Urusan Kumpulan Pantai Holdings, Faisal Ismail; Pengarah Eksekutif Divisyen Operasi Hospital, Pantai Holdings, Chan Boon Kheng; Ketua Pegawai Eksekutif HPKL, Tan Suet Guan; Presiden Avon Malaysia, Mansoor Wan Abdullah dan Presiden Persatuan Kebajikan Barah Payu Dara (BCWA), Ranjit Kaur.
Dianggarkan satu dalam 19 wanita di negara ini berisiko menghidap barah payu dara sekali dalam hidup mereka. Daftar Kanser Kebangsaan 2003-2005 menunjukkan pada tempoh itu sebanyak 11,952 kes baru barah payu dara dikesan, tetapi angka berkenaan dikatakan tidak memaparkan jumlah sebenar pesakit barah payu dara di negara ini memandangkan laporan kepada daftar berkenaan tidak diwajibkan.
Ini bermakna jumlah yang betul mungkin jauh lebih tinggi terutama jika pesakit mendapatkan rawatan di hospital swasta mahupun perubatan alternatif.
Apa yang lebih membimbangkan, jika selama ini pesakit hanya membabitkan mereka yang sudah berusia khususnya di kalangan wanita menopaus, namun sejak kebelakangan ini semakin ramai gadis muda seawal usia belasan tahun turut dikesan menghidap penyakit yang dikatakan pembunuh nombor satu wanita itu.
Dr. Azlina berkata, barah payu dara memberi kesan bukan saja kepada pesakit, bahkan setiap ahli keluarga dan rakan, selain menyebabkan kerugian kepada negara apabila ramai wanita terpaksa keluar daripada pasaran kerja bagi membolehkan mereka mendapatkan rawatan sewajarnya.
Beliau berkata, walaupun ketika ini ada pelbagai kempen kesedaran terhadap penyakit itu dilakukan, kempen seumpama itu perlu dipertingkat kerana pengesanan awal dapat memberikan rawatan lebih komprehensif.
"Kita melihat ada banyak kempen kesedaran dijalankan pelbagai pihak, baik kerajaan mahupun swasta. Percaya atau tidak, ia masih belum mencukupi kerana sehingga kini tiada kaedah tepat bagi mencegah barah payu dara dan tiada ujian darah bersesuaian bagi mengesan penyakit ini, tetapi dengan pengesanan awal khususnya di kalangan pesakit Tahap 1, peluang untuk bebas daripada penyakit itu bagi tempoh lima tahun berikutnya hampir 100 peratus.
"Malah, dengan rawatan awal diberikan, pesakit juga boleh mengelakkan mastektomi (pembedahan membuang seluruh payu dara yang mempunyai sel barah), selain mencegah rasa sakit akibat barah yang semakin serius atau membolehkan pesakit melakukan pembedahan membentuk semula payu dara jika mastektomi dijalankan," katanya.
Sehubungan itu, beliau menggesa wanita supaya melakukan pemeriksaan payu dara sendiri, selain tampil berjumpa doktor mendapatkan pemeriksaan jika mendapati keganjilan pada payu dara mereka.
Kempen 'Wear It Pink 2009' anjuran HPKL itu mendapat kerjasama Avon (M) Sdn. Bhd., jenama kecantikan terkenal yang aktif dalam pelbagai kempen kesedaran barah payu dara, malah mempunyai program khusus dinamakan 'Kiss Goodbye to Breast Cancer'.
Pada majlis itu, HPKL turut menyerahkan cek berjumlah RM20,000 kepada Ranjit yang disampaikan Shahrizat. Selain itu, pengasas butik Pink Jambu, Tengku Marina Ibrahim turut mengumumkan 50 peratus daripada jualan barangan di butik berkenaan sepanjang Oktober dan November ini akan disalurkan bagi kempen 'Wear It Pink 2009'.
Khamis, 05/11/2009
Pengesanan awal selamatkan nyawa
Oleh Fadzlena Jafar
Wanita digesa lakukan pemeriksaan barah payu dara sendiri selain segera bertemu doktor untuk rawatan
PENGALAMAN menakutkan pesakit barah ketika melakukan rawatan kemoterapi, selain stigma masyarakat terhadap wanita yang terpaksa membuang payu daranya dikenal pasti antara punca ramai wanita enggan mendapatkan rawatan perubatan moden.
Malah, ada pesakit yang mengambil keputusan berkenaan walaupun ketika didiagnos mereka hanya berada pada tahap satu yang mana peluang untuk sembuh hampir 100 peratus.
Bagaimanapun, Pakar Bedah Payu Dara Hospital Pantai Kuala Lumpur (HPKL), Dr. Azlina Firzah Abdul Aziz, berkata ada pesakit yang membuat pilihan dengan mengamalkan perubatan alternatif seperti mengambil herba tanpa menyedari amalan itu menyebabkan keadaan mereka semakin kritikal.
"Kajian mendapati, kebanyakan pesakit di Malaysia lambat mendapatkan rawatan perubatan yang betul kerana meminta nasihat daripada individu tidak terlatih atau menawarkan pilihan dengan menjanjikan kaedah seperti herba dan suplemen, kononnya dapat mengelakkan pembedahan.
"Janji diberikan pasti menarik pesakit terutama yang takut akan pembedahan dan komplikasi akibat rawatan seperti kemoterapi. Inilah yang menyebabkan ramai yang akhirnya datang kepada kita dalam keadaan yang sudah teruk sehingga peluang sembuh agak tipis," katanya pada majlis pelancaran kempen kesedaran 'Wear It Pink 2009' anjuran HPKL, baru-baru ini.
Kempen itu dilancarkan oleh Menteri Pembangunan, Keluarga dan Masyarakat, Datuk Seri Shahrizat Abdul Jalil. Turut hadir Pengerusi Pantai Holdings Berhad (Pantai Holdings), Tan Sri Mohamed Khatib Abdul Hamid; Pengarah Urusan Kumpulan Pantai Holdings, Faisal Ismail; Pengarah Eksekutif Divisyen Operasi Hospital, Pantai Holdings, Chan Boon Kheng; Ketua Pegawai Eksekutif HPKL, Tan Suet Guan; Presiden Avon Malaysia, Mansoor Wan Abdullah dan Presiden Persatuan Kebajikan Barah Payu Dara (BCWA), Ranjit Kaur.
Dianggarkan satu dalam 19 wanita di negara ini berisiko menghidap barah payu dara sekali dalam hidup mereka. Daftar Kanser Kebangsaan 2003-2005 menunjukkan pada tempoh itu sebanyak 11,952 kes baru barah payu dara dikesan, tetapi angka berkenaan dikatakan tidak memaparkan jumlah sebenar pesakit barah payu dara di negara ini memandangkan laporan kepada daftar berkenaan tidak diwajibkan.
Ini bermakna jumlah yang betul mungkin jauh lebih tinggi terutama jika pesakit mendapatkan rawatan di hospital swasta mahupun perubatan alternatif.
Apa yang lebih membimbangkan, jika selama ini pesakit hanya membabitkan mereka yang sudah berusia khususnya di kalangan wanita menopaus, namun sejak kebelakangan ini semakin ramai gadis muda seawal usia belasan tahun turut dikesan menghidap penyakit yang dikatakan pembunuh nombor satu wanita itu.
Dr. Azlina berkata, barah payu dara memberi kesan bukan saja kepada pesakit, bahkan setiap ahli keluarga dan rakan, selain menyebabkan kerugian kepada negara apabila ramai wanita terpaksa keluar daripada pasaran kerja bagi membolehkan mereka mendapatkan rawatan sewajarnya.
Beliau berkata, walaupun ketika ini ada pelbagai kempen kesedaran terhadap penyakit itu dilakukan, kempen seumpama itu perlu dipertingkat kerana pengesanan awal dapat memberikan rawatan lebih komprehensif.
"Kita melihat ada banyak kempen kesedaran dijalankan pelbagai pihak, baik kerajaan mahupun swasta. Percaya atau tidak, ia masih belum mencukupi kerana sehingga kini tiada kaedah tepat bagi mencegah barah payu dara dan tiada ujian darah bersesuaian bagi mengesan penyakit ini, tetapi dengan pengesanan awal khususnya di kalangan pesakit Tahap 1, peluang untuk bebas daripada penyakit itu bagi tempoh lima tahun berikutnya hampir 100 peratus.
"Malah, dengan rawatan awal diberikan, pesakit juga boleh mengelakkan mastektomi (pembedahan membuang seluruh payu dara yang mempunyai sel barah), selain mencegah rasa sakit akibat barah yang semakin serius atau membolehkan pesakit melakukan pembedahan membentuk semula payu dara jika mastektomi dijalankan," katanya.
Sehubungan itu, beliau menggesa wanita supaya melakukan pemeriksaan payu dara sendiri, selain tampil berjumpa doktor mendapatkan pemeriksaan jika mendapati keganjilan pada payu dara mereka.
Kempen 'Wear It Pink 2009' anjuran HPKL itu mendapat kerjasama Avon (M) Sdn. Bhd., jenama kecantikan terkenal yang aktif dalam pelbagai kempen kesedaran barah payu dara, malah mempunyai program khusus dinamakan 'Kiss Goodbye to Breast Cancer'.
Pada majlis itu, HPKL turut menyerahkan cek berjumlah RM20,000 kepada Ranjit yang disampaikan Shahrizat. Selain itu, pengasas butik Pink Jambu, Tengku Marina Ibrahim turut mengumumkan 50 peratus daripada jualan barangan di butik berkenaan sepanjang Oktober dan November ini akan disalurkan bagi kempen 'Wear It Pink 2009'.
Kempen kesedaran barah payu dara
Berita Harian
Khamis, 05/11/2009
Kempen kesedaran barah payu dara
KUALA LUMPUR: Satu acara bagi meningkatkan kesedaran orang ramai mengenai penyakit barah payu dara, 'OutRageously PINK Nite 2009', akan berlangsung di pusat belah-belah Bangsar Village pada Sabtu ini, selama empat jam mulai 6 petang.
Majlis itu meraikan mereka yang berjaya mengharungi cabaran ketika diserang penyakit itu bertemakan warna merah jambu dan semua kutipan yang diperoleh termasuk melalui kempen 'Stand Up For Pink', Oktober lalu, akan diserahkan kepada Dana Kanser Payudara, Pusat Perubatan Universiti Malaya.
Menurut kenyataan orang ramai yang hadir ke majlis anjuran Bangsar Village dengan kerjasama 'Venusbuzz', 'Lariche Community', 'College of Radiology Academy of Medicine of Malaysia' dan 'Malaysian Breast Cancer Council' itu dengan berpakaian merah jambu, turut berpeluang memenangi pelbagai hadiah istimewa yang disediakan.
Selain persembahan fesyen oleh pesakit yang sembuh dari penyakit berbahaya itu, pelbagai persembahan lain antaranya oleh penulis lagu, Juwita Suwito dan Elvira Arul.
Aktiviti menarik juga turut menanti kanak-kanak apabila mereka akan dihiburkan dengan aktiviti lukisan wajah, gerai ukuran belon yang ditaja Laura Mercier serta 'Lariche Community'.
Khamis, 05/11/2009
Kempen kesedaran barah payu dara
KUALA LUMPUR: Satu acara bagi meningkatkan kesedaran orang ramai mengenai penyakit barah payu dara, 'OutRageously PINK Nite 2009', akan berlangsung di pusat belah-belah Bangsar Village pada Sabtu ini, selama empat jam mulai 6 petang.
Majlis itu meraikan mereka yang berjaya mengharungi cabaran ketika diserang penyakit itu bertemakan warna merah jambu dan semua kutipan yang diperoleh termasuk melalui kempen 'Stand Up For Pink', Oktober lalu, akan diserahkan kepada Dana Kanser Payudara, Pusat Perubatan Universiti Malaya.
Menurut kenyataan orang ramai yang hadir ke majlis anjuran Bangsar Village dengan kerjasama 'Venusbuzz', 'Lariche Community', 'College of Radiology Academy of Medicine of Malaysia' dan 'Malaysian Breast Cancer Council' itu dengan berpakaian merah jambu, turut berpeluang memenangi pelbagai hadiah istimewa yang disediakan.
Selain persembahan fesyen oleh pesakit yang sembuh dari penyakit berbahaya itu, pelbagai persembahan lain antaranya oleh penulis lagu, Juwita Suwito dan Elvira Arul.
Aktiviti menarik juga turut menanti kanak-kanak apabila mereka akan dihiburkan dengan aktiviti lukisan wajah, gerai ukuran belon yang ditaja Laura Mercier serta 'Lariche Community'.
Sunday, April 5, 2009
Breast cancer survivors challenge the waves
Breast cancer survivors challenge the waves
Isaac Hiew
|The Pink Challengers show their positive side ... "that
there is life after breast cancer".
The Pink Challengers – a group of 15 gutsy breast cancer survivors recently rowed a dragon boat across the 3.8km Penang channel to drum up the message: "There can be life after breast cancer."
The event organised by the Breast Cancer Welfare Association (BCWA) with the theme "Paddle for Courage, Strength and Change" saw the Pink Challengers rowing from Bagan Ajam, Butterworth to Tanjong City Marina.
On hand to support them was Royal Australian Air Force personnel who rowed another dragon boat alongside the Pink Challengers. Present to welcome them after the event was Penang State executive councillor Danny Law Heng Kiang.
Their arrival at Tanjung City Marina was greeted by honks from the biking fraternity, including members of the Harley Owners Group Malaysia Chapter.
To mark the end of the Penang Channel Challenge, the Pink Challengers observed a moment of silence, before casting flowers into the water in memory of women the world over, who had lost the battle with breast cancer and for those who are still battling the disease.
The Pink Challengers, formed in March 2007, is the country’s first dragon boat team made up entirely of breast cancer survivors, for whom rowing across rough waters is a symbolic activity – resonating with their personal battles against the disease.
Through the Penang Channel Challenge, they hoped to inspire others that having cancer does not render them hopeless, even through the roughest of journeys in life.
Over the years of training together, these women have formed a mutual companionship and camaraderie and consider themselves "sworn-sisters" who have gone through thick and thin.
As one of the team members said: "We are in the same boat."
"This event is significant to us as we take on the waves, and push through the resistance, symbolising the battle that everyone in this team has experienced breast cancer," said BCWA president Ranjit Kaur, who was also the drummer for the team.
She said the physical action of paddling, which builds up body strength and flexibility of the arms, is also a way of preventing lymphoedema or arm swelling – a side effect of breast cancer treatment.
Earlier, BCWA received a RM10,000 donation from ceramics tile manufacturer MML Marketing Sdn Bhd, a brand under Malaysian Mosaics Bhd.
Updated: 10:00AM Mon, 06 Apr 2009
Printable Version | Email to a Friend
Isaac Hiew
|The Pink Challengers show their positive side ... "that
there is life after breast cancer".
The Pink Challengers – a group of 15 gutsy breast cancer survivors recently rowed a dragon boat across the 3.8km Penang channel to drum up the message: "There can be life after breast cancer."
The event organised by the Breast Cancer Welfare Association (BCWA) with the theme "Paddle for Courage, Strength and Change" saw the Pink Challengers rowing from Bagan Ajam, Butterworth to Tanjong City Marina.
On hand to support them was Royal Australian Air Force personnel who rowed another dragon boat alongside the Pink Challengers. Present to welcome them after the event was Penang State executive councillor Danny Law Heng Kiang.
Their arrival at Tanjung City Marina was greeted by honks from the biking fraternity, including members of the Harley Owners Group Malaysia Chapter.
To mark the end of the Penang Channel Challenge, the Pink Challengers observed a moment of silence, before casting flowers into the water in memory of women the world over, who had lost the battle with breast cancer and for those who are still battling the disease.
The Pink Challengers, formed in March 2007, is the country’s first dragon boat team made up entirely of breast cancer survivors, for whom rowing across rough waters is a symbolic activity – resonating with their personal battles against the disease.
Through the Penang Channel Challenge, they hoped to inspire others that having cancer does not render them hopeless, even through the roughest of journeys in life.
Over the years of training together, these women have formed a mutual companionship and camaraderie and consider themselves "sworn-sisters" who have gone through thick and thin.
As one of the team members said: "We are in the same boat."
"This event is significant to us as we take on the waves, and push through the resistance, symbolising the battle that everyone in this team has experienced breast cancer," said BCWA president Ranjit Kaur, who was also the drummer for the team.
She said the physical action of paddling, which builds up body strength and flexibility of the arms, is also a way of preventing lymphoedema or arm swelling – a side effect of breast cancer treatment.
Earlier, BCWA received a RM10,000 donation from ceramics tile manufacturer MML Marketing Sdn Bhd, a brand under Malaysian Mosaics Bhd.
Updated: 10:00AM Mon, 06 Apr 2009
Printable Version | Email to a Friend
Friday, March 13, 2009
Rising pressure of healthcare cost
Saturday March 14, 2009
Rising pressure of healthcare cost
By CECILIA KOK
Increases in medical bills are outpacing the general inflation rate each year. That raises the question whether healthcare is reserved only for those who can afford it
“I got the bill for my surgery. Now I know what those doctors were wearing masks for”
– American bureaucrat, James H. Boren (1925)
WHAT is the value of a human’s health? Sixteenth-century English scholar and vicar at Oxford University Robert Burton put it at such: “Restore a man to his health, and his purse lies open to thee.”
That denotes that health is priceless, and almost everyone would pay anything to get well. With the doctors’ power to demand, medical services do not come cheap.
And with the continuous rise of investments in research and development as well as the adoption of the latest technologies to deal with the rapid emergence of new and complicated illnesses (and the re-emergence of some deadly ones), healthcare costs are soaring by the day.
So, who can afford to fall sick these days?
Across the world, the increases in doctors’ bills are outpacing the general inflation rate each year. It is estimated that the global medical inflation averages about 10% each year.
In Malaysia, medical inflation is estimated to be around 15% each year. That is to say, a simple appendicitis surgery that cost RM1,800 three years ago will set you back by about RM3,000 today.
The next question then: Is healthcare reserved only for those who can afford it?
Far from it. As former Health Ministry director-general Tan Sri Dr Abdul Khalid Sahan puts it, healthcare has been universally accepted as a basic right of all citizens.
“Everyone has a right to receive it irrespective of his or her ability to pay,” Khalid explains, adding that the Government is accountable for ensuring that healthcare is made accessible to all citizens.
The existence of public healthcare services in Malaysia is in line with that notion. Although the system is not perfect, its services are provided almost free of charge because they are heavily subsidised by the Government.
And complementing the public healthcare system in Malaysia is the private sector, whose existence is supposed to help improve the delivery standards of the public healthcare sector – in that the “richer” patients would go to the private hospitals, and therefore, help lighten the workload of the public sector, so that the “poorer” patients can have better and faster services at government hospitals.
Private healthcare services are expensive (or as some would complain, ridiculously expensive) mainly because they are profit-driven centres.
Shocking bills
Over the years, there have been growing concerns that private hospitals tend to overcharge their patients. According to Dr Chan Chee Khoon, professor and convenor for health and social policy research cluster at Universiti Sains Malaysia, there are built-in incentives for over-investigation, over-treatment and over-medication in a profit-driven, fee-for-service system.
Therefore, some patients have been slapped with exorbitant charges by private hospitals due to “unnecessary” treatment courses.
For example, there is the case of Madam LC, in her 60s, who had been diagnosed with breast cancer with metastasis to liver stage IV, and was admitted to a private hospital in Kuala Lumpur in January. Upon discharge the following day, she was slapped with a bill of more than RM7,000. Of this amount, nearly half was for a specific medication called Injection Aclasta, which, according to the patient, retailed at only RM1,400. In addition, LC was also billed for a bilateral mammogram, when she actually did a single one, as she had a left mastectomy more than 10 years ago.
Upon protest, LC was offered a 7% discount, which included a revision of the mammogram charges. She turned down the offer because she felt she was still being overcharged for the medication.
In the middle of last month, she received a telephone call and an SMS from the hospital’s public relations officer, offering a 20% refund. She requested the offer be made in writing but to this day, she has yet to hear from the hospital.
Unfortunately, LC’s experience is not an isolated case. As an industry analyst puts it, whenever the patient is unaware and “can afford it”, such practices tend to occur because private hospitals are driven by profits.
However, a private hospital doctor told StarBizWeek that most of them do not mean to over-diagnose or over-treat patients. He explains that doctors in the private hospitals tend to subject their patients to “better monitoring” as part of what they call defensive medicine, due to the rising risk of litigation.
He adds, “So, gone are the days when the doctor would send the patient home for self-monitoring before admitting him or her for further treatment.”
Nevertheless, thanks to the introduction of medical insurance, certain medical expenses incurred by policyholders can be taken care of. Hence, it is viewed as increasingly important for individuals to have such insurance policies, with sufficient coverage.
This is because we have often heard of how terminally ill patients had to endure the high costs of treatment. Some even had to borrow money. Some had exhausted their insurance coverage and some had given up hope for medication.
Then again, while medical insurance policies have helped to alleviate the financial burden of patients, they have also contributed to the rapid increase of medical costs at private hospitals. This is because insurance policies are another opportunity through which private hospitals can make quick bucks.
Affordability issue
It is estimated that only about 40% of the country’s population, or 10.8 million Malaysians, are medically insured. This leaves about 16.2 million people without health insurance policies. Then again, this may not be a big concern in Malaysia as patients can always turn to the Government.
Over the years, the steep costs at private healthcare centres have caused some patients to go back to public healthcare. And with the global recession, even more are expected to seek public, rather than private, healthcare services.
Dr Pawel Suwinski, Frost & Sullivan Malaysia Sdn Bhd’s senior consultant of healthcare practice for Asia-Pacific, says this may be the trend, given the present economic condition, which has an impact on consumers’ incomes, making private healthcare services increasingly unaffordable to many.
Suwinski points out that people will obviously make their choices based on affordability. And between the options of a cheaper but more troublesome public healthcare and a more convenient but expensive private healthcare, patients are now more likely going to opt for the former.
Association of Private Hospitals of Malaysia (APHM) president Datuk Dr Jacob Thomas concedes that it is possible that patients will turn to the public healthcare system in these troubled times, but he argues that there is only so much that the public hospitals can cope with. As it stands now, these hospitals are already overloaded with patients.
The healthcare gap
Undeniably, there is a huge disparity between public and private healthcare services in Malaysia. First, the public healthcare sector continues to lose its trained medical professionals to the more lucrative and usually urban-based private sector.
Also, it has to cater to the growing number of patients as the bulk of the Malaysian population cannot afford private healthcare.
The massive brain drain and the higher volume of patients have resulted in an overwhelming workload for the public healthcare sytem. At present, the public sector accounts for about 39,000, or 77%, of the total hospital beds in the country, while the private sector accounts for the remainder of about 12,000 beds.
But there are almost 9,000 doctors in the private sector, compared with about 13,500 doctors employed by the Government.
So, the ratio of doctors to hospital beds is still lower for the private sector, which has one doctor to attend to every 1.3 beds, versus the public sector’s one doctor for every three beds.
As a result, patients at government hospitals wait longer to get medical attention and they get less personalised attention from the doctors. Therefore, there tends to be a lack of communication between doctors and patients.
Equally competent
However, industry observers say this does not mean that doctors at public hospitals are any less competent than their counterparts in the private sector.
Frost & Sullivan’s Suwinski says the public healthcare sector, in fact, has more experienced specialists, who are also involved in the teaching process for the medical profession.
APHM’s Thomas concurs, saying that most doctors in the private sector are after all, products of the public sector. Hence, there is not much difference in the competency levels between doctors of both sectors.
He adds that the private healthcare sector has been “fortunate”, as it does not have a large volume of patients, and is therefore able to provide more personalised attention.
According to Suwinski, the perception that public healthcare services are inferior is mainly due to the longer waiting hours at government hospitals and their less attractive facades. “But these have no connection with the quality of care delivered,” he points out.
He thinks the public healthcare sector can overcome the poor perception by upgrading older facilities, acquiring new technologies and equipment, and improving its manpower.
Meanwhile, Thomas points out that the public-private partnership was recently established to help the Government cope with its growing list of patients.
The partnership involves the Government sending some of its patients to the private sector for certain consultation and treatment. The process will not burden the patients as the costs incurred are still borne by the Government.
“It is a win-win situation, whereby the private sector can help ease the load of public hospitals,” Thomas explains.
Beyond borders
A recent study by the National University of Singapore shows that the process of transforming Malaysian healthcare into a global commodity is well under way. This is underpinned by the Government’s effort in institutionalising various incentives such as tax support, accreditation, sales promotion and marketing activities to promote the country as a healthcare hub.
According to Thomas, the private healthcare sector has been tasked to be the driver of medical tourism in Malaysia.
Among the factors working to Malaysia’s advantage, Thomas says, are its cost-competitiveness compared to the regional and international markets, the good infrastructure, and the fact that English is widely spoken here.
In addition, the overall performance of Malaysia’s healthcare system is considered remarkably good by the standards of the World Health Organisation (WHO).
Indicators supporting this are the country’s health-adjusted life expectancy, which is around 63 years (comparable to that of industrialised countries), and the maternal mortality rates, which have fallen by more than ten-fold over the last four decades (from 320 deaths per 100,000 livebirths in 1957 to less than 30 deaths per 100,000 livebirths currently).
According to Suwinski, WHO considers the Malaysian healthcare system to be one of the best and a role model for developing nations.
Frost & Sullivan had earlier estimated that Malaysia’s healthcare industry would grow 8% this year, supported by a 2009 budget allocation of RM13.7bil. Last year, the Government spent about RM13bil on the healthcare industry.
Room for improvement
Malaysia devotes only a small portion of its gross domestic product (GDP) annually to healthcare. Over the years, the Government has consistently spent less than 3% of its GDP on the healthcare sector. The WHO-recommended level is 5%.
But it is almost in line with the trend of neighbouring countries Singapore and Thailand that have been dedicating around 4% of their GDP on health spending. On the other hand, the expenditures on health by the governments of rapidly developing China and India have both exceeded 5% of their GDP since 2002.
In general, developed countries allocate larger portions of their budgets to healthcare. The US, for example, dedicates around 15% of its GDP annually to health spending, while Japan dedicates around 8% and Britain, 7%.
According to an analyst, by consistently spending less than the WHO-recommended amount, a country could turn its healthcare system into a laggard.
Industry observers say the importance of healthcare cannot be underestimated. As Khalid puts it, healthcare goes beyond the individual recipients to the family and society, and investment in health is an indirect investment in the economy of the country.
Rising pressure of healthcare cost
By CECILIA KOK
Increases in medical bills are outpacing the general inflation rate each year. That raises the question whether healthcare is reserved only for those who can afford it
“I got the bill for my surgery. Now I know what those doctors were wearing masks for”
– American bureaucrat, James H. Boren (1925)
WHAT is the value of a human’s health? Sixteenth-century English scholar and vicar at Oxford University Robert Burton put it at such: “Restore a man to his health, and his purse lies open to thee.”
That denotes that health is priceless, and almost everyone would pay anything to get well. With the doctors’ power to demand, medical services do not come cheap.
And with the continuous rise of investments in research and development as well as the adoption of the latest technologies to deal with the rapid emergence of new and complicated illnesses (and the re-emergence of some deadly ones), healthcare costs are soaring by the day.
So, who can afford to fall sick these days?
Across the world, the increases in doctors’ bills are outpacing the general inflation rate each year. It is estimated that the global medical inflation averages about 10% each year.
In Malaysia, medical inflation is estimated to be around 15% each year. That is to say, a simple appendicitis surgery that cost RM1,800 three years ago will set you back by about RM3,000 today.
The next question then: Is healthcare reserved only for those who can afford it?
Far from it. As former Health Ministry director-general Tan Sri Dr Abdul Khalid Sahan puts it, healthcare has been universally accepted as a basic right of all citizens.
“Everyone has a right to receive it irrespective of his or her ability to pay,” Khalid explains, adding that the Government is accountable for ensuring that healthcare is made accessible to all citizens.
The existence of public healthcare services in Malaysia is in line with that notion. Although the system is not perfect, its services are provided almost free of charge because they are heavily subsidised by the Government.
And complementing the public healthcare system in Malaysia is the private sector, whose existence is supposed to help improve the delivery standards of the public healthcare sector – in that the “richer” patients would go to the private hospitals, and therefore, help lighten the workload of the public sector, so that the “poorer” patients can have better and faster services at government hospitals.
Private healthcare services are expensive (or as some would complain, ridiculously expensive) mainly because they are profit-driven centres.
Shocking bills
Over the years, there have been growing concerns that private hospitals tend to overcharge their patients. According to Dr Chan Chee Khoon, professor and convenor for health and social policy research cluster at Universiti Sains Malaysia, there are built-in incentives for over-investigation, over-treatment and over-medication in a profit-driven, fee-for-service system.
Therefore, some patients have been slapped with exorbitant charges by private hospitals due to “unnecessary” treatment courses.
For example, there is the case of Madam LC, in her 60s, who had been diagnosed with breast cancer with metastasis to liver stage IV, and was admitted to a private hospital in Kuala Lumpur in January. Upon discharge the following day, she was slapped with a bill of more than RM7,000. Of this amount, nearly half was for a specific medication called Injection Aclasta, which, according to the patient, retailed at only RM1,400. In addition, LC was also billed for a bilateral mammogram, when she actually did a single one, as she had a left mastectomy more than 10 years ago.
Upon protest, LC was offered a 7% discount, which included a revision of the mammogram charges. She turned down the offer because she felt she was still being overcharged for the medication.
In the middle of last month, she received a telephone call and an SMS from the hospital’s public relations officer, offering a 20% refund. She requested the offer be made in writing but to this day, she has yet to hear from the hospital.
Unfortunately, LC’s experience is not an isolated case. As an industry analyst puts it, whenever the patient is unaware and “can afford it”, such practices tend to occur because private hospitals are driven by profits.
However, a private hospital doctor told StarBizWeek that most of them do not mean to over-diagnose or over-treat patients. He explains that doctors in the private hospitals tend to subject their patients to “better monitoring” as part of what they call defensive medicine, due to the rising risk of litigation.
He adds, “So, gone are the days when the doctor would send the patient home for self-monitoring before admitting him or her for further treatment.”
Nevertheless, thanks to the introduction of medical insurance, certain medical expenses incurred by policyholders can be taken care of. Hence, it is viewed as increasingly important for individuals to have such insurance policies, with sufficient coverage.
This is because we have often heard of how terminally ill patients had to endure the high costs of treatment. Some even had to borrow money. Some had exhausted their insurance coverage and some had given up hope for medication.
Then again, while medical insurance policies have helped to alleviate the financial burden of patients, they have also contributed to the rapid increase of medical costs at private hospitals. This is because insurance policies are another opportunity through which private hospitals can make quick bucks.
Affordability issue
It is estimated that only about 40% of the country’s population, or 10.8 million Malaysians, are medically insured. This leaves about 16.2 million people without health insurance policies. Then again, this may not be a big concern in Malaysia as patients can always turn to the Government.
Over the years, the steep costs at private healthcare centres have caused some patients to go back to public healthcare. And with the global recession, even more are expected to seek public, rather than private, healthcare services.
Dr Pawel Suwinski, Frost & Sullivan Malaysia Sdn Bhd’s senior consultant of healthcare practice for Asia-Pacific, says this may be the trend, given the present economic condition, which has an impact on consumers’ incomes, making private healthcare services increasingly unaffordable to many.
Suwinski points out that people will obviously make their choices based on affordability. And between the options of a cheaper but more troublesome public healthcare and a more convenient but expensive private healthcare, patients are now more likely going to opt for the former.
Association of Private Hospitals of Malaysia (APHM) president Datuk Dr Jacob Thomas concedes that it is possible that patients will turn to the public healthcare system in these troubled times, but he argues that there is only so much that the public hospitals can cope with. As it stands now, these hospitals are already overloaded with patients.
The healthcare gap
Undeniably, there is a huge disparity between public and private healthcare services in Malaysia. First, the public healthcare sector continues to lose its trained medical professionals to the more lucrative and usually urban-based private sector.
Also, it has to cater to the growing number of patients as the bulk of the Malaysian population cannot afford private healthcare.
The massive brain drain and the higher volume of patients have resulted in an overwhelming workload for the public healthcare sytem. At present, the public sector accounts for about 39,000, or 77%, of the total hospital beds in the country, while the private sector accounts for the remainder of about 12,000 beds.
But there are almost 9,000 doctors in the private sector, compared with about 13,500 doctors employed by the Government.
So, the ratio of doctors to hospital beds is still lower for the private sector, which has one doctor to attend to every 1.3 beds, versus the public sector’s one doctor for every three beds.
As a result, patients at government hospitals wait longer to get medical attention and they get less personalised attention from the doctors. Therefore, there tends to be a lack of communication between doctors and patients.
Equally competent
However, industry observers say this does not mean that doctors at public hospitals are any less competent than their counterparts in the private sector.
Frost & Sullivan’s Suwinski says the public healthcare sector, in fact, has more experienced specialists, who are also involved in the teaching process for the medical profession.
APHM’s Thomas concurs, saying that most doctors in the private sector are after all, products of the public sector. Hence, there is not much difference in the competency levels between doctors of both sectors.
He adds that the private healthcare sector has been “fortunate”, as it does not have a large volume of patients, and is therefore able to provide more personalised attention.
According to Suwinski, the perception that public healthcare services are inferior is mainly due to the longer waiting hours at government hospitals and their less attractive facades. “But these have no connection with the quality of care delivered,” he points out.
He thinks the public healthcare sector can overcome the poor perception by upgrading older facilities, acquiring new technologies and equipment, and improving its manpower.
Meanwhile, Thomas points out that the public-private partnership was recently established to help the Government cope with its growing list of patients.
The partnership involves the Government sending some of its patients to the private sector for certain consultation and treatment. The process will not burden the patients as the costs incurred are still borne by the Government.
“It is a win-win situation, whereby the private sector can help ease the load of public hospitals,” Thomas explains.
Beyond borders
A recent study by the National University of Singapore shows that the process of transforming Malaysian healthcare into a global commodity is well under way. This is underpinned by the Government’s effort in institutionalising various incentives such as tax support, accreditation, sales promotion and marketing activities to promote the country as a healthcare hub.
According to Thomas, the private healthcare sector has been tasked to be the driver of medical tourism in Malaysia.
Among the factors working to Malaysia’s advantage, Thomas says, are its cost-competitiveness compared to the regional and international markets, the good infrastructure, and the fact that English is widely spoken here.
In addition, the overall performance of Malaysia’s healthcare system is considered remarkably good by the standards of the World Health Organisation (WHO).
Indicators supporting this are the country’s health-adjusted life expectancy, which is around 63 years (comparable to that of industrialised countries), and the maternal mortality rates, which have fallen by more than ten-fold over the last four decades (from 320 deaths per 100,000 livebirths in 1957 to less than 30 deaths per 100,000 livebirths currently).
According to Suwinski, WHO considers the Malaysian healthcare system to be one of the best and a role model for developing nations.
Frost & Sullivan had earlier estimated that Malaysia’s healthcare industry would grow 8% this year, supported by a 2009 budget allocation of RM13.7bil. Last year, the Government spent about RM13bil on the healthcare industry.
Room for improvement
Malaysia devotes only a small portion of its gross domestic product (GDP) annually to healthcare. Over the years, the Government has consistently spent less than 3% of its GDP on the healthcare sector. The WHO-recommended level is 5%.
But it is almost in line with the trend of neighbouring countries Singapore and Thailand that have been dedicating around 4% of their GDP on health spending. On the other hand, the expenditures on health by the governments of rapidly developing China and India have both exceeded 5% of their GDP since 2002.
In general, developed countries allocate larger portions of their budgets to healthcare. The US, for example, dedicates around 15% of its GDP annually to health spending, while Japan dedicates around 8% and Britain, 7%.
According to an analyst, by consistently spending less than the WHO-recommended amount, a country could turn its healthcare system into a laggard.
Industry observers say the importance of healthcare cannot be underestimated. As Khalid puts it, healthcare goes beyond the individual recipients to the family and society, and investment in health is an indirect investment in the economy of the country.
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