The National Cancer Council (MAKNA) intends to launch the second phase of its one sen campaign soon, its president Dato' Mohd Farid Ariffin said today.

It hopes to raise RM300,000 compared with the RM214,480.56 under the first phase of the campaign held earlier this year.

"Currently, there are about one million one sen coins in circulation and we aim to collect these from the public to help poor patients pay for the high cost of cancer treatment," he told a Press conference after receiving a mock cheque for RM200,000 from Malaysian National Reinsurance Berhad (MNRB).

The donation was for this year's Telekanser, an annual fund-raising campaign to fight cancer. This is MNRB's second donation to MAKNA. It gave the same amount last year.

Mohd Farid received the donation from MNRB chairman Mohammad Abdullah.

The ceremony was held at the Institut Kanser MAKNA-HUKM, Hospital Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, in Cheras.

Also present were MNRB chief executive officer/managing director Anuar Mohd Hassan, MNRB senior general manager Mustaffa Ahmad and MAKNA treasurer Francis Tan Kuan Yew.

Mohammad hoped the donation would help reduce MAKNA's burden and give new hope to poor patients.

"Apart from pain and suffering, patients have to settle the high costs of treatment," he added.

Since MAKNA was set up in 1995, it has spent RM9.3 million to help poor patients seeking treatment. The National Cancer Registry reports that 40,000 cases of cancer are reported every year.

Mohd Farid said many young people were now becoming prone to cancer.

"Research is being carried out to see how food and lifestyle can make one prone to cancer, and why different races have different ratios of getting the disease," he added.

The MNRB officials later visited the Tengku Ampuan Afzan Oncology Ward, as well as the Bone Marrow Transplantation Ward where they met patients and presented gifts.

Source by: News Straits Times, September 9, 2003