LETTER | In March this year, Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak said Malaysia's defence spending will continue to grow as its armed forces have embarked on a long-term plan to modernise and upgrade their equipment. 

According to Najib, the country needs to equip its armed forces with the capabilities required to face modern warfare, both symmetrically and asymmetrically.

And he proposed a development budget of RM3.29 billion for the Defence Ministry.

To my knowledge, we are not going to war anytime soon.

But we are certainly witnessing the predicament of thousands of people who are struggling with the prices of cancer medicines and the staggering hidden costs associated with cancer treatment.

And yet the Parliament Speaker Pandikar Amin again rejected my motion to provide financial help to them by channelling RM2 billion to the Health Ministry from the Defence Ministry to set up a cancer stimulus package.

Yes, it’s the same cash that Najib says would buy us sophisticated weapons and elite technology.

The additional fund, however, would go a long way in helping cancer patients and their families to buy more medicines as well as provide social support if a cancer patient loses his or her job.

It would also go to train more oncologists and stimulate more research for cancer prevention.

The funds could help with early detection that can prolong lives and can, in the long run, be less of a financial burden on the healthcare system.

We are facing a cancer crisis but this rejection, which kills my cancer stimulus package from being heard in Parliament, shows that Najib and his administration have misplaced priorities. 

My earlier proposal this month to increase Malaysia’s health expenditure to GDP to seven percent, as recommended by the World Health Organisation, also fell on deaf ears.

Today, one in nine women and one in ten men in Malaysia will have cancer before they reach the age of 75.

And the Health Ministry says this will increase by 15 percent in 2020.

These numbers are real. A modern warfare as conjured by Najib remains imaginary.

German writer and statesman, Johann Wolfgang von Goethe said that “Things which matter most must never be at the mercy of things which matter least.”

Cancer patients and their families matter the most. Now, if only Najib and his government could see it that way too.

CHARLES SANTIAGO is the Member of Parliament for Klang.

The views expressed here are those of the author/contributor and do not necessarily represent the views of Malaysiakini.