NCSM, Etiqa team up to provide free breast cancer screening

KUALA LUMPUR: The National Cancer Society Malaysia (NCSM) and Etiqa Insurance and Takaful have signed a one-year partnership worth RM1.67 million to provide free breast cancer screening for 5,000 underprivileged women.
Etiqa chairman Datuk R. Karunakaran said although this is a one-year programme, it will likely be extended to benefit more women.
“Insurance claims for cancer are the highest of all critical illness claims, contributing to 86% of female critical illness insurance claims with breast cancer being the highest at 48%,” Karunakaran said at the launch of the free mammogram programme earlier today.
Etiqa’s parent company, Maybank Ageas Holdings CEO Kamaludin Ahmad told a press conference that the programme started last Friday with 200 underprivileged women identified in Cameron Highlands for the screening.
He said the programme targets women with a household income below RM5,000 and will transport them for the screening at the NCSM here or other partnering hospitals.

Commending the initiative, NCSM principal patron Tan Sri Rafidah Aziz, who launched the programme, said she hopes Etiqa would also diversify into other areas to assist cancer patients.
“One of the things that you could look at is revising the existing packages for those who contribute to your insurance premium to enable them to utilise it for operative and post surgery patients.
Rafidah said NCSM is willing to assist Etiqa if it intends to revise its insurance packages.