KOTA KINABALU, Dec 18 — Roche Malaysia has unveiled a distinctive initiative designed to ease the financial burden of treatment for breast cancer patients in Sabah.
Spearheaded by a pilot co-funding programme in partnership with Majlis Ugama Islam Sabah (MUIS) Malaysia, the project aims to assist financially disadvantaged patients in the public sector.
The fund, named ZAKAT for HER, will be managed and governed by Persatuan Kebajikan Islam Perubatan Sabah (PERKIPS), the state’s Islamic Medical Welfare Association.
“In our nation, a substantial portion of the population, particularly those in the B40 and lower M40 income brackets, rely heavily on the public health care sector,” said Yahya Hussin from MUIS.
“The Ministry of Health currently shoulders 49.3 per cent of public health care costs, but out-of-pocket expenses still comprise 31.5 per cent. There is an urgent need for strategic interventions and private sector partnerships to alleviate the burden on both the MOH and the citizens we serve.”
With breast cancer being the most prevalent type of cancer in Malaysian women, equitable, timely and sustainable access, especially novel ones, is crucial.
Sabah’s health care ecosystem has recently been in the spotlight for its call to increase awareness of early cancer detection.
Over 66 per cent of cancer patients in the state get diagnosed with late-stage cancer, underscoring the gaps in health-seeking behaviour, particularly in the rural population.
The delay is often driven by women seeking alternative or traditional therapies before getting a complete diagnosis.
In a dynamic public-private partnership, Roche and MUIS are leading a groundbreaking initiative for timely access to innovative breast cancer treatment. The pilot programme supports 14 eligible patients with HER-2 positive breast cancer through neoadjuvant therapy.
This innovative funding model unites contributors to share treatment costs for financially challenged B40 and lower M40 patients in the public sector.
Designed for expansion, the model aims to provide equitable access to sustainable and innovative treatments, therefore ensuring optimal patient outcomes.
“No woman should be denied her opportunity for remission or extended survival simply due to the prohibitive cost of treatment,” said Deepti Saraf, general manager of Roche Malaysia.
“Although this programme is in its initial phase, our vision is to amplify this initiative, guaranteeing accessibility to neoadjuvant therapies for women of all socio-demographic backgrounds.”
Neoadjuvant therapies are pre-surgery treatments to help reduce the size of the tumour or kill cancer cells that have spread.
