Prevention is better than cure: Pangkor Island’s community acceptance of free health screening services

The conventional wisdom ‘prevention is better than cure’ is common knowledge but may not necessarily be observed in an individual’s or a community’s everyday life. This study analyses the extent to which an island community follows or depart from this ruling healthcare wisdom by examining their desire, willingness and participation in free health screening programmes including the prevention of breast cancer by self- examination (BSE). Findings from the 64 Pangkor islanders surveyed revealed that while the local islanders were very conscious of their health, they only sought treatment when symptoms of chronic diseases such as coronary heart disease, hypertension, cancer and diabetes were diagnosed. The implication is that measures must be taken to enhance community awareness of preventive health care through intensive public health education.