Tutong - Women are recommended to take a pap smear test once every three years in order to detect cervical cancer at an early stage. This was the message sent across by the Tutong Health Department in a forum yesterday morning at the Tutong Community Hall Complex.

The objective of the forum was to provide information on cervical cancer and spread the knowledge that cervical cancer can be detected at an early stage. At the same time, it also aimed to promote the Well Women Clinic (WWC), which was established many years ago.

The WWC is a service to provide comprehensive health screening and advice to women, and can be obtained at every Maternal and Child Health Clinics throughout the country.

Giving her welcoming speech, Tan Kim Say, Nursing Officer at the Tutong Health Department, expressed her wish that the forum will encourage more women to conduct pap smear tests at their nearest clinic.

She commented that the level of awareness of the danger of cervical cancer in the country will rise with the forum, but mere awareness is not enough without more efforts made by the women to take measures to prevent and detect the cancer.

Halijah Hj Mohd Yusof, a 40-yearold businesswoman, was detected with cervical cancer at an advanced stage, which left her no choice but to do an operation and receive further treatments. The whole process took two months.

Her advice based on her experience to the women in Brunei: "I hope all women in Brunei go for a pap smear so that they can prevent the disease or detect it at an early stage, should they be unlucky enough to get cervical cancer."

Another cervical cancer survivor was Chai Nyu Shain, a 67-year-old who decided to go for a pap smear in 1993 after having irregular periods. The test revealed that she had early stage cervical cancer. She was then sent to Singapore for radiotherapy for five weeks, after which she recuperated in Brunei.

She made a full recovery and was officially discharged in 2001 after doing pap smear tests yearly since 1993 following her radiotherapy to check for recurrence of the disease.

Her message to fellow patients of cervical cancer was that it is "important that we keep ourselves happy, eat healthy food and also exercise regularly. Bad mood will affect our condition so keeping a cheerful mind helps with our recovery and healing as well."

Datin Hjh Fatimah Dato Seri Setia Abang Hj Razali, President of the Women's Council, was present at the event as guest of honour.

The 400 participants of the event included members of the Women's Council, students from the Institute of Medicine from Universiti Brunei Darussalam and students and teachers from secondary schools in Tutong. -- Courtesy of The Brunei Times

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