KUALA LUMPUR: The Health Ministry has called on more parties to step forward and provide cancer patients with access to 'precision medicine'.
Minister Khairy Jamaluddin admitted that the government could not offer all citizens access to the treatment option due to the high costs and expenditure that it entailed.
"It is not possible for the government to provide this service to all as it involves high costs."
"That is why we need collaborations and private initiatives like this to ensure that as many people as possible have access to 'precision medicine' in the country," he added.
He was speaking at the launch of the collaboration on 'Precision Medicine' among Prudential Malaysia, AstraZeneca and Pantai Premier Pathology in a hotel near here today.
Khairy further said that not all cancer patients were able to afford the diagnosis or had access to genome testing which falls under the scope of this broad branch of medicine.
"Only a small segment can afford the high cost of genome testing. So this initiative allows those who have an insurance plan to have easy access to precision medicine."
"As such, I hope more insurance companies can embark on these collaborations and ensure that cancer patients get better treatment," he said.
He further said the initiative would enable patients to better cancer treatment services.