by Jia Ying Chia
Local health officials and over 1000 members of Brunei’s community came together for Pantai Jerudong Specialist Centre’s (PJSC) World Cancer Day Weekend activities and events, to rally in the second year of the ‘Close the Care Gap’ campaign. The ‘Close the Care Gap’ campaign was organised to run from 2022 to 2024 by the Union for International Cancer Control as a way to unify understanding and awareness of inequities in cancer care around the world.
In his opening remarks Dr. Lu Shir Kiong, Chairman of World Cancer Day, highlighted the success of events held last year and the importance to reaching across to create a united front and open communication on the disease that is one of the leading causes of premature death in Brunei Darussalam. According to statistics obtained from the Brunei Darussalam Cancer Registry (BDCR) for 2021, 682 new cases were detected locally.
Various members of the community and esteemed government officials were in attendance including Yang Berhormat Dato Seri Setia Dr. Awang Haji Mohd Amin Liew bin Abdullah, the Minister of Finance and Economy; the Minister of Health, Yang Berhormat Dato Seri Setia Dr. Haji Mohammad Isham bin Haji Jaafar; and Dr. Haji Mazrul Adimin bin Haji Awang Besar, the Executive Director of PJSC. Local celebrity and entrepreneur Wu Chun, who is the PJSC Goodwill Ambassador and ICC’s World Cancer Day ambassador, was also in attendance.
