HUSBANDS NEED TO BE MORE SUPPORTIVE OF WIFE'S PREDICAMENT, SAYS MALAYSIAN MINISTER

KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 7 (Bernama) -- Women, Family and Community Development
Minister Shahrizat Abdul Jalil said husbands must show a more caring
attitude towards their wives in facing breast cancer.

She said in such cases, men had to place special emphasis on the important
role of the partner in caring for the woman that he loved.

Shahrizat said men had to support and encourage women who were suffering
from breast cancer which gave them comfort to survive.

"What many fail to realise is that breast cancer is not just an issue that
affects women, it is a family issue that devastates the entire family," she told
a press conference here, Thursday.

Earlier, Shahrizat launched the National Council of Women's Organisation
(NCWO) Mencare Corporate Programme at Sime Darby Convention Centre, here.

The minister said the couple must emerge stronger and should be ready to
share with each other their inspiring experiences of survival.

"Even as they fear the effects of the disease and the treatment
necessary to
preserve life and improve survivorship, the most prevalent fear that many women
harbour is the reaction of their partners and subssequently the fear of being
neglected or abandoned," she added.

The minister also urged private companies and corporations to implement
human resource and corporate social responsibility (CSR) policies that enabled
men to be more supportive of their wives, mothers or sisters in breast cancer
screening.

She said these policies would also make it possible for men to lend their
physical and emotional support to the women in their lives should there be a
need for diagnostic tests or treatment for breast cancer.

Each year around 1.2 million women worldwide are diagnosed with breast
cancer.

In Malaysia, breast cancer is the most common female cancer and accounts
for almost a third of total cancer cases registered.

-- BERNAMA



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