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Nirmala Bhoo Pathy: Closing the gender gap in cancer care

Nirmala Bhoo Pathy/tatlerasia.com

Oct 27, 2024, 10:32

Nirmala Bhoo Pathy: Closing the gender gap in cancer care

“Read my latest piece in The Star Media Group Berhad on closing the gender gap in cancer care.

With October marking Breast Cancer Awareness Month and the upcoming International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women, it’s vital to acknowledge that the systemic barriers women face in accessing equitable cancer care are closely linked to broader issues of gender-based violence and discrimination. These inequities restrict women’s autonomy and agency.

So, as healthcare professionals in Malaysia, how can we make a difference? Where do we fit into this bigger picture? And isn’t it time we lead the way in driving change?

Read on.”

Nirmala Bhoo-Pathy is a Professor of Epidemiology in the Department of Social and Preventive Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, University Malaya, and practices as a public health physician at the University Malaya Medical Centre, Malaysia. She is also a visiting scholar at Queen’s University Belfast, United Kingdom since 2014. Dr Bhoo Pathy’s career is focused on optimizing life after cancer in resource-limited settings through research and advocacy.

Dr Bhoo Pathy was the principal investigator of phase III of the ASEAN CosTs In ONcology (ACTION) study, comprising close to 10,000 cancer patients from eight low-and middle-income member countries of the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN). She currently serves in two Lancet Commissions: the Lancet Commission on Women and Cancer and the Lancet Commission on Cancer and Health Systems. As the founder and scientific lead of a solution-oriented research group ‘Well with Cancer in Malaysia (WeCan@MY) https://spm.um.edu.my/wecan@my/ in the Department of Social and Preventive Medicine, Nirmala Bhoo-Pathy currently oversees a wide range of studies on cancer care, cancer control and cancer policy, locally and globally.