Brunei has pledged to close the gap in cancer care

[ASEAN NOW Content Team]

 

According to the Brunei Darussalam Cancer Registry, a man's risk of developing cancer is 27% (one in every four men), while a woman's risk is 29%. (one in three women).

In a message released in conjunction with World Cancer Day 2022, Minister of Health Dato Seri Setia Dr Mohd Isham Jaafar (photo) emphasised this.
The topic for this year is 'Close the Care Gap.'

According to the Brunei Darussalam Cancer Registry, 806 citizens and permanent residents were diagnosed with cancer in the country in 2020.
In addition, 352 people died from cancer this year.

 

In other words, cancer claimed the lives of one in every five Brunei Darussalam citizens and permanent residents in 2020.

In comparison to 2011-2015, the number of cancer patients increased by 25.3 percent over a five-year period in 2016-2020.

Colorectal cancer (68 instances), prostate cancer (39) and lung cancer (39) were among the most common cancers among men in 2020. (37).

Breast cancer had the highest number of cases (111), followed by colorectal cancer (62), uterine or uterine corpus cancer (62) and ovary cancer (62). (32).

 

"Every year on February 4th, the globe commemorates World Cancer Day, a global campaign organised by the Union for International Cancer Control (UICC) aimed at raising awareness about cancer and acting to improve cancer prevention, detection, and treatment," Dr. Mohd Isham added.

"As with other countries, Brunei Darussalam is not lagging behind in terms of raising awareness and implementing activities and measures to prevent and mitigate cancer's impacts.

 

"From 2022 to 2024, the theme of World Cancer Day will be 'Close the Care Gap.'"
The three-year campaign will focus on equity-related concerns, such as raising awareness of cancer care inequity and identifying barriers to public access to services and cancer care.
"Every obstacle and its potential to lower patients' chances of surviving cancer can be avoided if this care gap is closed," he said.

"According to the International Association for Cancer Control (UICC), if we can do some of the following, we may minimise inequality and close the care gap, which, Alhamdulillah, is being implemented in the Sultanate.

 

"These include increasing public awareness of cancer prevention; equipping healthcare professionals with skills and knowledge – including how inequality affects cancer care; strengthening community-based basic health care; and addressing social and economic factors that can negatively impact public health through policy formulation and implementation."

"Others include increasing resources (money and people) – specifically for cancer research, tracking the national burden of cancer to better shape our investments, and implementing a country-specific cancer prevention and control plan that highlights each country's unique needs and resources," he said.

 

Edited February 4, 2022 by ASEAN NOW Content Team