Today, City Cancer Challenge (C/Can), the City Councils of Petaling Jaya, Subang Jaya and Shah Alam, the National Cancer Society of Malaysia, and Universiti Malaya, officially signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to improve access to quality cancer care in the cities of Greater Petaling.
Hosted by the State of Selangor, the MoU signing represents a significant milestone, marking the official launch of the C/Can city process in Greater Petaling. The agreement sets out a framework for cooperation between the signatories to jointly address the gaps in cancer care services in the three cities of Greater Petaling over the next two years.
“This MoU brings us one critical step closer to meeting the urgent challenge of reducing the cancer burden in our cities and country.” YB Dr Siti Mariah binti Mahmud, Selangor State Executive Councillor for Health, Women and Family Empowerment and Chair of C/Can’s City Executive Committee.
The significance of the initiative was echoed by the Ministry of Health during the ceremony in a special message by the Deputy Director General (Medical)::
“Through this MoU, it is my sincere hope that we can make significant progress to improve quality of care for people living with cancer, for cancer survivors, and their caretakers. Let me reassure you that the MoH is in firm support of this end goal.” YBhg Dato Dr Norhizan Ismail, Deputy Director General (Medical), MOH
According to the World Health Organization, Malaysia has a low rate of cancer survival, compared to countries with similar income settings, while the State of Selangor has the second-highest number of new cancer cases in the country, with the Malaysia Cancer Registry Report 2012-2016 reporting close to 15,000 incidences each year.
Greater Petaling represents the second city in Asia to join this growing movement of cities around the world to work with a network of multisectoral partners to plan and deliver locally-led, sustainable cancer care solutions.
“With Greater Petaling, we have three cities coming together for the first time to take part in the C/Can initiative. It shows a true willingness for cooperation to achieve the common goal of improving access to quality cancer care and treatment.” Dr Susan Henshall, CEO, City Cancer Challenge
The next step for Greater Petaling in the C/Can City Engagement Process is the needs assessment, which will involve the collection of in-depth data on the quality and capacity of cancer care services to provide insights and identify gaps and opportunities to improve cancer care solutions in the city.
As C/Can’s network expands, with new cities joining in 2021, the focus for the year ahead will be to harness C/Can’s collective ability to learn, innovate and connect for lasting change.
