KUALA LUMPUR, Feb 2 — Malaysia has an acute shortage of oncologists with the estimated ratio a startling 3.4 doctors for every one million people, Health Ministry deputy director-general for public health Datuk Dr Chong Chee Kheong told The Star.
He said in an interview published today that the ideal ratio would be eight to 10 oncologists per million people but there are only 115 oncologists in the country with 42 of them in government hospitals and the remaining 73 in the private sector.
Dr Chong added that the Health Ministry was trying to encourage Malaysian oncologists working abroad to return home.
“So far this year, we’ve received two applications,” he said in the report ahead of World Cancer Day on Monday.
He also said the annual intake for Universiti Malaya’s Masters in Clinical Oncology programme will be increased, pointing out that there are currently 56 candidates.
The Star report said one in every nine Malaysian and 10 men will be afflicted with cancer, and most cases are detected late with almost 60 per cent of patients discovering it when the disease has already spread.
Dr Chong attributed the late detection to poor screening uptake and delays in recognising the early signs of the disease.
He also cited an Australian study that found that 45 per cent of Malaysian cancer patients faced financial woes.
“This means the cost of their treatment exceeds 30per cent of family income after a year of being diagnosed with cancer,” he said, urging the public to reduce risks factors such as smoking, physical inactivity, unhealthy diets and consuming alcohol
Dr Chong also pointed out that the existing National Strategic Plan for Cancer Control Programme (NSPCCP), was progressing well with improvements in screening coverage for cancers such as colourectal cancer.
He said a cancer centre will be built in the northern region of the peninsula.
