Materia Medica Malaysiana

Specially for cancer patients

PUTRAJAYA: Cancer patients will soon be able to get items tailored to their needs at a special shop in the Putrajaya Hospital.
This “positive image shop” will be run by the Penyayang Cancer Support Programme under Yayasan Budi Penyayang, jointly chaired by the hospital's director Dr Naginder Singh and Nori Abdullah, the Prime Minister's daughter.
Among the things that will be available at the shop are scarves, wigs, therapeutic equipment, mastectomy support items like prosthetic bras as well as sun-protective garments for post-surgery cancer patients.
Penyayang chief executive officer Leela Mohd Ali said the shop was set up not just to meet the special needs of cancer patients, but also to allow them to acquire the items at subsidised prices.
The shop is the support group's latest project after its first two successful on-going projects.
The first involves a halfway house in Sepang, about 20 minutes' drive from Putrajaya Hospital, for cancer patients as well as family members caring for them.
Consultant surgeon Dr Hisham Abdullah, who has been with the support group even before its official launch in March last year, said the halfway house usually has an occupancy rate of under 50%. It can take a maximum of 39 patients.
The other project involves the provision of chemoports (implanted devices to administer medication for patients undergoing chemotherapy) to patients.
Dr Hisham said about 50 chemoports, each costing about RM800 and paid for by the support group, had been implanted in patients who required high doses of chemotherapy or had weak veins.
Next month, the support group will get another helping hand in its efforts to enrich the lives of cancer patients when KL Fashion Week returns.