PUTRAJAYA: The government aims to see a one-third reduction of cervical cancer cases by 2030.
Health director-general Datuk Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah said that on average, the disease affects 7.8 per cent per every 100,000 population in Malaysia.
He said that through the Human Papilloma Virus (HPV) vaccination programme for 13-year-old schoolgirls, which started in 2010, it is hoped that the number would be reduced by one-third in 20 years.
"We also aim to triple the number of gynae-oncologists serving the ministry from 20 to ensure better treatment for cervical cancer patients. There are eight specialists who are currently undergoing training in the gynae-oncology programme.
"To achieve this, we are working on three core values of disease management, namely, services, training and research, that go hand in hand as the data collection of patients are used for research and to provide a training platform," he said at the launch of the second edition of Clinical Practice Guidelines (CPG) on Management of Cervical Cancer today.
He said the CPG is aimed at guiding practitioners and hopes to improve services and public awareness.
"This include increasing early detection of cervical cancer through pap smears and reduce number of incidences to allow treatments to be more cost-effective."
As part of the ministry's initiative to optimise the government's budget, Dr Hisham said directors of general hospitals were instructed to carry out audits on their medical equipment and items.
"Items with expiration dates that were barely used could be channelled to other hospitals in need. This is one of the measures we are adopting to optimise our resources and reduce wastage," he told a press conference.