Page 130 - RY2020-21 Handbook Rotary District 3300

DISTRICT ACTION GROUP ON CANCER AWARENESS AND PREVENTION

CANCER AWARENESS AND PREVENTION PROGRAMME FOR DISTRICT 3300 RY 2018-19
Cancer is a growing ‘silent killer’ in Malaysia today. More than 20,000 new cases are diagnosed every year and cancer remains the third largest cause of death in the
country today. The top 5 cancers in Malaysia are breast cancer, colorectal cancer, lung cancer, lymphoma and nasopharyngeal cancer. Conditions in cancer
diagnosis and treatment are further aggravated by the fact that a majority of the patients are diagnosed at much later stages of the disease; making their conditions
more expensive to treat and often with poorer results which cause death and disability. To further compound the problem is data that clearly highlights that lower
socioeconomic patients are the worst affected. The root of the problem is due to lower awareness of cancer in general; as well as a serious lack of early screening amongst
Malaysians due to a combination of poor economic ability and a lack of health-knowledge.

Rotary 3300, with 83 Clubs under our wing and strengthened further by Rotaract and Interact clubs distributed across every major town and city in Malaysia, can truly make
a difference in changing this scenario and making a big impact on the deadly reach of this disease.

The aim of Rotary will be to embark on the following:
i) to deploy and run a nationwide cancer awareness campaign
ii) to create a national network of ‘health agents’ -community members geared towards promoting health and preventing non-communicable diseases especially
cancer within their communities.
iii) promote screening of the 3 ‘screenable’ cancers nationwide especially breast cancer, colorectal cancer and cervical cancer.

We will be working with The National Cancer Society Malaysia, who has both the technical expertise and decades of experience in cancer control management,
to facilitate the above objectives.
Cancer is both a medically and socially debilitating disease; crippling families by robbing them of loved ones as well as being a huge financial burden on families.
Thus, Rotarians lending their shoulders to this noble cause, will go a long way in creating a big impact on Malaysians everywhere in reducing the burden of this deadly
disease.

RY2020-21 District Handbook 130