KUCHING: The risk of Malaysian women developing breast cancer has increased to one in 23, compared with one in 27 previously, said Women, Family and Community Development Minister Datuk Seri Nancy Shukri.
She said breast cancer remained the most common cancer among women in Malaysia, according to the Malaysian National Cancer Registry Reports for 2012–2016 and 2017–2021.
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“More concerning, the National Health and Morbidity Survey (NHMS) 2023 found that 71 per cent of women aged 40 and above have never undergone a mammogram, while 46 per cent do not practise breast self-examination.
“This low screening rate complicates early detection efforts, even though the survival rate for patients diagnosed at an early stage can reach 95 per cent,” she said at the Sarawak state-level Breast Cancer Awareness Month event here today.
Nancy said the government, through the National Population and Family Development Board (LPPKN), had introduced the Mammogram Examination Subsidy Programme in 2007 to expand access to early breast cancer screening.
She said the programme was subsequently strengthened and rebranded as WeCaRe, which covers breast and cervical cancer awareness among women.
As of Sept 30, she said, a total of 598,919 women nationwide had benefited from the programme, including 90,075 in Sarawak, of whom 88 tested positive for cancer.