By Zareef Muzammil
SHAH ALAM, Aug 16 — A total of 75 individuals out of 2,078 participants who took cancer tests during the state’s free screening programme Selangor Saring, were suspected of having symptoms of the disease.
State executive councillor for public health Dr Siti Mariah Mahmud said blood samples taken from the individuals since May 22, were sent to the hospital for confirmation before further action was taken.
“As of now, over 12,000 individuals have undergone the free health screening that was carried out in 34 state constituencies.
“Out of that total, about 10,000 individuals were screened for non-communicable disease (NCD), while the remaining 2,078 were tested for cancer,” she said during an event at De Palma Hotel here today.
She said most of the participants had registered early through the SELangkah mobile app but there were also several walk-ins recorded at the screening locations.
In the meantime, Dr Siti Mariah said they are willing to consider calls from state assemblymen for the programme to be held twice a year, but it depends on the allocation from the state.
According to her, several improvements needed to be made before considering that option since this was the first time the programme had been implemented.
“Insya Allah (God willing) we will continue because the state assemblymen really prefer to have this programme in their constituencies. As it is important to increase people’s awareness of the importance of health checks.
“We want this programme to bring an impact on the people, yet at a reasonable cost. Maybe after this, the public can just visit the nearby clinic to do health checks without waiting for the state to hold an event for it,” she said.
To ensure Selangor Saring’s success, the state government has set aside RM3.4 million in its budget for the programme which would benefit 39,000 people, particularly those with a family medical history, who are obese and practise an unhealthy lifestyle.
The programme, which will run until September 4 provides physical screening, blood and urine tests, eye, cervical, and breast cancer screenings, as well as occult faeces or colon and prostate cancer testing.
