Tackling low breast cancer screening rates for Malay women

New report’s suggestions include organising culturally sensitive workshops

- Taryn Ng

Amid low breast cancer screening rates for the Malay community in Singapore, a new report recommends raising awareness of breast cancer and preventive education through schools, to reach younger females early.

It also suggested organising culturally sensitive workshops and deploying more mobile screening services at mosques.

The report was released on July 2 by the Breast Cancer Foundation (BCF), in collaboration with pharmaceutical company Roche and the Society of Behavioural Health, Singapore.

Only about one in five Malay women, or 21.5 per cent, had undergone a mammogram in the last two years, according to the National Population Health Survey released in 2022.

This is around half the proportion of Indian women at 43.9 per cent, and Chinese women at 39.5 per cent.

As part of efforts to raise greater awareness about breast health, the report recommended having more culturally sensitive workshops that cover topics like the importance of breast self-examination, risk factors for breast cancer and the benefits of regular screening to reach the Malay community.

Although BCF already has initiatives like awareness talks and outreach sessions, the report highlights more opportunities to work with other organisations, like religious groups.

Ms Natalie Lau, head of advocacy and communications at BCF, said: "We do acknowledge that faith plays an important part, and religious leaders can be an important advocate for breast health. We want to be able to kick-start dialogue with religious leaders to understand their perspective and what can help them to advocate breast health."