In order to keep abreast of the latest findings, information, technology and developments in the search for the cure of cancer, UTAR Department of Biomedical Science parked under the Faculty of Science (FSc) and the National Cancer Council (MAKNA) successfully organised a cancer awareness talk titled “Hope is Beautiful – Let’s Stand Up to Cancer” at UTAR Kampar Campus on 2 March 2017. The talk was delivered by the Staff Nurse from Pusat Perubatan Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia Shazwani binti Hamzah to students and staff mainly from FSc.
The two-hour talk is part of the UDDD3313 Oncology subject’s coursework and it was designed for Year Three Biomedical students. Also attending the talk were the Head of the Department of Biological Science Dr Nor Ismaliza binti Mohd Ismail, Organising Chairperson-cum-Lecturer from FSc Saw Seow Hoon and UTAR lecturers and staff.
Saw welcome the students and introduced the speaker, Shazwani. In her opening remarks, Saw thanked the speaker and other members of MAKNA for their great contribution to UTAR and its students by sharing their expertise on cancer.
“Cancer is one of the major causes of death all over the world and it is the second largest cause of death in Malaysia. Cancer can occur in any part or any tissue in the body and can involve any type of body cell. It is estimated that 20,000 new cases are registered yearly in Peninsular Malaysia and 30 to 50 percent of the cases could have been prevented with a healthy lifestyle, alongside early detection and treatment,” said Shazwani. She added, “Breast and lung cancers are the most frequent cancers among Malaysian women and men respectively. Preventing cancer may sound difficult but to reduce the likelihood of contracting cancer all you have to do is to stay healthy through diet, exercise and early detection.”
She also encouraged the students to perform breast self-examinations to check for lumps or other changes that may signal breast cancer at least once a month. Apart from breast cancer, she also advised the students to reduce the habit of smoking in order to prevent lung cancer.
Prior to the talk, the Year Three students also conducted fundraising activities for cancer-related services for the community through MAKNA.
Saw said, “This project is part of the Oncology subject’s assignment module set by the Department of Biomedical Science. The objectives of this project were to create awareness, promote interest and enhance the students’ understanding of cancer-related issues, such as types of cancers, treatments available, screening status, and such. It encouraged the students to engage and commit to the subject content and increased their keenness and understanding towards Oncology. I would like to thank MAKNA for their willingness to interact with our students to spread the knowledge about cancer.”
MAKNA is a not-for-profit organisation registered under the Registrar of Societies on 10 November 1994 and officially launched in March 1995. Their main goal is to pool and utilise the expertise and capital from all sectors of society to fight cancer and reduce the related pain, morbidity and suffering that cancer patients and their families often undergo.
Shazwani explaining how to do a breast self-examination
The talk ended with a group photograph
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