25% Malaysian Developed Cancer

One in four Malaysians will unfortunately develop cancer by the time they reach 75 years old, the Health Ministry has revealed.

Deputy Health Minister Dr Hilmi Yahaya said that out of 100,000 people at present, 19,000 were already suffering from cancer, with 10,240 of them being women who were shown to be at a higher risk than men.

“Of the 100,000 people, 4,058 are Malay men and 4,753 Malay women diagnosed with cancer, while 4,078 Chinese men and 4,422 Chinese women are diagnosed with the disease.

“This is followed by 629 Indian men and 1,065 Indian women,” the New Straits Times quoted Dr Hilmi as saying. He revealed these statistics after launching the Colorectal Cancer Awareness Project 2016, in Kuala Lumpur yesterday.

The top five types of cancer affecting both men and women in Malaysia were breast cancer (14.5 per cent); colorectal cancer (12.1 per cent); lung cancer (11.8 per cent); cervical cancer (5.7 per cent); and throat cancer (5.4 per cent), he said, stressing on the need for the public to conduct regular medical check-ups as early detection was crucial for more effective treatment.

“The Health Ministry’s statistics (2014) have also shown that cancer is the fourth highest cause of death in government hospitals (13.02 per cent),” he added.