KUALA LUMPUR: Hairdressers and barbers will soon be asked to "nudge" their customers to go for health checks for cancer and other non-communicable diseases (NCDs).
This initiative, inspired by a programme in China, will be part of the National Cancer Society of Malaysia's (NCSM) Bringing Education And Understanding To You, or known by its acronym, Beauty.
The programme — Beauty and Health — aims to raise awareness about cancer screening and health.
NCSM managing director Dr M. Murallitharan said it was a community-based intervention programme aimed at improving cancer-specific health knowledge, literacy and risk-reduction practices.
In collaboration with Asia Cancer Forum, Japan, it would involve barbershops and beauty salons in Malaysia to act as health communication platforms for screenable male and female cancers, as well as other NCDs.
The project will create community-based networks of hair salons and barbershops that will be equipped with digital technologies.
"Salons and barbershops play a role in social activities to assist people to live better lives. These are places people frequent, and often serve as communication platforms for men and women.
"We always think that health is something in the medical landscape. But in actuality, health issues come from our behaviour. It's our choice to smoke or not exercise, and that is the foundation which governs the way we live.
"Hence, we have to take a different approach that involves people's normal setting. We cannot wait for people to come to clinics or hospitals," he said.
He said customers of hair salons and barbershops would receive information on general cancer risks and reduction practices, as well as specifics on colorectal, lung, prostate, breast and cervical cancers.
The information includes risk reduction practices for obesity and smoking, as well as health self-assessment tools.
Dr Murallitharan said the programme would involve three stages.
"Phase one is ongoing and involves working with different groups of Malaysians to observe how and where they receive health information. Do they prefer celebrities informing them or those close to them?
"It will also involve the development of a training module for community hair salons and barbershops to spread cancer information to their clients," he said.
Dr Murallitharan said phase two of the project would see the establishment of a cancer prevention portal to enable Malaysians to access health information and be prompted for cancer screening.
The programme's final phase envisaged a nationwide initiative, where a large number of those in the beauty industry would join to spread cancer awareness among Malaysians.
"We also intend to work with our partners and the Health Ministry to complement and ramp-up their health screening services nationally," he said.
The programme, launched on Aug 11, began in Kuala Lumpur with the participation of technical experts and respondents from different states joining the sessions.
It will subsequently move to Selangor, Pahang, Perak and Negri Sembilan, ending with a large-scale nationwide effectiveness study.