Breast reconstruction, prosthesis a necessity
Posted on 8 October 2015 - 08:19pm Last updated on 9 October 2015 - 12:06am, Vathani Panirchellvum
newsdesk@thesundaily.com
PETALING JAYA: Breast reconstruction and prosthesis is a necessity and not a cosmetic procedure.
Former cabinet minister Tan Sri Rafidah Aziz today hit out at Malaysian insurance companies for categorising breast reconstruction and prosthesis as cosmetic as it is a procedure that would help breast cancer patients who had to undergo mastectomy to feel whole again.
In the United States under the Women's Health and Cancer Rights Act, mastectomy benefits cover the reconstruction of the breast, any external prostheses for the breast and any complication following the procedure.
"It should be universal with the perception and the understanding of what treatment of breast cancer is. Breast cancer treatment includes making the woman feel 'whole' and building up her self confidence which includes using prosthesis or implants (to reconstruct the removed breast). If that is the part of the treatment to make her well again after the surgery, that should be considered treatment and not cosmetic," Rafidah, who is the patron of the third Women's Health Summit, said at the launch of "Wear It Pink" 2015 campaign organised by Pantai Kuala Lumpur Hospital.
She added the trauma of having to go through cancer and having either one or both breasts removed is unimaginable, and to deny the women the chance to feel whole and to feel woman again is unthinkable.
"In the US this is recognised, patients are able to get insurance companies to pay for it. But here in Malaysia you have to pay for your implants yourself – which is not cheap. Most women are not exactly people who can afford all of these," she added.
Meanwhile, Dr Azlina Firzah Abdul Aziz, the organising chairperson of Pantai Hospital's Wear it Pink campaign, said patients get depressed when they are told that they would have to get their breast removed due to the cancer.
"But when they are told they can get 'new' breasts, suddenly they can smile again. Only when I explain that this would not be covered by insurance and if they have extra funds or savings to pay for the procedure which is readily available in Malaysia, they get depressed all over again," she said.