PENANG Adventist Hospital today announced it will hold a breast cancer awareness event, called ‘Pink Dream,’ in conjunction with the upcoming ‘Pink October,’ a global movement aimed at promoting knowledge and understanding of breast cancer.
The hospital’s president and chief executive officer Ronald Koh Wah Heng remarked that breast cancer affects 1 in every 19 women in Malaysia, making it the most common cancer among Malaysian women.
“Pink Dream will create a unique opportunity for us to bring this damaging illness into the national conversation so that we can put better emphasis on its awareness, education on signs and symptoms and prevention.
“With hope, it can even lead to improved policies, allowing all women in our country better access to high-quality treatment,” Koh said.
‘Pink Dream’ will be held on Oct 22 at Padang Scot, located behind Penang Adventist Hospital, from 4pm to 9pm.
Koh added that a captivating hot air balloon will be tethered to the ground. Selected participants can embark on a unique and enchanting hot-air balloon ride. There will also be a cold inflation hot air balloon filled with cold air, allowing participants to step inside the balloon envelope.
Health education booths and breast cancer self-examination stations will be set up to promote a healthy lifestyle and cancer screening.
He added that ‘Pink Dream’ stands in solidarity with all women in the community affected by this disease, aiming to provide them with hope and strength in their battle against the disease.
Koh also expressed their heartfelt gratitude to all their sponsors, Team PME Prudential, Siemens Healthineers and Mei Hotel for their collaboration.
State Youth, Sports and Health Committee chairman Daniel Gooi Zi Sen commended PAH for holding the event.
He said women are the pillars of every family, society, and country, always putting the needs of the family before their own.
“Breast cancer is the most common cancer among women in Malaysia, accounting for a high percentage of 32.9% of all female cancer patients.
“This is the highest percentage among all cancer types faced by women. Alarmingly, 47.9% of breast cancer patients are diagnosed at late stages – Stage 3 and 4. This needs to change, as breast cancer is highly treatable, especially in the early stages.
“Early diagnosis is a crucial strategy for cancer control. Therefore, besides raising awareness of the disease, it is even more crucial to educate about the importance of regular breast cancer screening. Regular screening can increase the chances of early-stage diagnosis, greatly improving the chances of successful treatment,” Gooi said in his speech.
He highlighted that prevention is always better than cure.
More importantly, Gooi said maintaining a healthy lifestyle through careful management of our diet, regular exercise, and stress management, we can reduce our cancer risk factors.
He also encouraged those who have higher risk factors to undergo breast cancer screening as early detection can save lives.
Sharing a recent Statistics Department statement, Gooi said Malaysia’s life expectancy at birth has increased by 0.3 years from 74.5 years in 2013 to 74.8 years in 2023.
Gooi said in terms of life expectancy, females outlived males by 4.9 years in 2023.
Chinese recorded the highest life expectancy at birth in 2023 as compared to other ethnic groups with men at 74.4 years and women at 80.2 years.
The breakdown for other races’ life expectancy at birth in 2023 are: Malay male (71.5 years), Malay female (76.4 years), Indian male (67.7 years), Indian female (75.9 years), other Bumiputera male (73.2 years) and other Bumiputera female (76.0 years).
Gooi believes that the life expectancy at birth in 2023 has increased by 0.3 years in a decade because of the increased health awareness programmes conducted. He said these programmes should continue to be conducted.
Joshua Woo Sze Zeng, the assemblyman for Pulau Tikus, noted that while breast cancer awareness is high in the country, even in rural areas, the percentage of women getting breast cancer screening is still relatively low. As a result, breast cancer is also the leading cause of death in Malaysian women .
“There are 23 new cases in Malaysia every day. Only 7 out of 10 breast cancer patients in Malaysia survive more than 5 years while that number could be as high as 9 in other countries where regular breast cancer screening is more common,” Woo said.
“It is therefore evident that early detection is the key to fighting the disease. I believe ‘Pink Dream’ will help achieve that.”
Among those present at the press conference were Penang Adventist Hospital senior marketing manager Caleb Lim and makerting communications executive Raymond Chee Kin Onn, Team PME Prudential founder Kam Chee Meng, Mei Hotel director Datuk Cheng Mei Man, Mei Hotel manager John Kim, Siemens Healthineers accounts manager Tan Yin Keat and head of communications and digital engagement Nitiakaran (Leo) Selvaraj.
Story by K.H. Ong
Pix by Siew Chia En