Health minister Khairy Jamaluddin said the Malaysia National Cancer Registry Report 2012–2016, released last year, showed people with lung and liver cancers only had a five-year survival rate of 11% and 12.8 % respectively.

“More people are being diagnosed late with cancer and most cases were either in Stages 3 or 4.

“The percentage of cases detected in Stages 3 and 4 rose from 58.7% to 63.7% between 2012 and 2016,” said Khairy during a virtual launch of a white paper on cancer care released by Galen Centre for Health and Social Policy and The Cancer Care Working Group.

Khairy said the health ministry had introduced faecal immunochemical tests to look for hidden blood in the stool as part of colon cancer screening, targeting people aged 50 to 75.

He warned that colon cancer had emerged as the second most common cancer among Malaysians, with 65% of cases diagnosed late.

Khairy said healthcare allocations for treating cancer needed to be seen as investments, rather than expenditure.

“People who are healthier and able to survive cancer can carry on working to help rebuild their lives and the economy.

“Effective investments and intervention in cancer prevention, timely diagnosis, advances in therapies and care delivery models have reduced the number of cancer deaths, improved survival and the quality of life for those living with the disease,” said Khairy.

The minister also raised the issue of patients’ tendency to resort to traditional or alternative treatments to treat cancer. Such delays in treatment allowed cancer to progress to a later stage, leaving fewer options available for the patients.

Khairy assured Malaysians that the government intended to continue subsidising the most effective medicines, with novel treatments accessible to patients through innovative financing models and industry-sponsored clinical trials.