The idea of a Colorectal Cancer Survivor Support Group was born at a meeting at Pantai Hospital on 7 April 2012 when a group of survivors and medical professionals met to discuss what could be done to improve the quality of life of colorectal cancer survivors. This was followed by another meeting on 6 October, 2012 where it was decided that positive action be taken to form such a group. On 31 March 2013 a public symposium and discussion was held at the Academies of Medicine which was attended by a large gathering of medical professionals, colorectal cancer survivors and other interested parties. In the round-table discussion following the symposium the need for a Colorectal Cancer Support Group was established.
Pursuant to this a meeting was called at Pantai Hospital on 27 April, 2013 and the group of about 40 attendees elected a Pro-Tem Committee who were tasked with finalizing a constitution for the proposed organisation and seeking registration with the Registrar of Societies, Malaysia. After a number of meetings a constitution was drawn up and the COLORECTAL CANCER SURVIVORSHIP SOCIETY, MALAYSIA, was registered with the Registrar of Societies, Malaysia, as a national volunteer organization. Prime among the movers were Dato Dr Meheshinder Singh, Ms Cynthia Chu and Mr Sri Tharan, with support from Ms Bummy Tan and Ms Wong Cheong Cheong and with Ms Ranjeet Kaur providing advice and coordination.
On 17 August, 2014 CORUM organized its first public forum at the Le Meredian Hotel, Kuala Lumpur. The main speaker was Dr Zev Wainberg of the UCLA Colorectal Cancer Centre, USA and the event was sponsored by Roche (Malaysia). A number of cancer survivors and other interested persons attended. This served as the forerunner of many later such fora.
Following the registration of CORUM with the Registrar of Societies, Malaydia, on 29 August, 2013, CORUM held its first Annual General Meeting on 13 October, 2013 where Dato Dr Mehesh was elected President with Ms Cynthia Chu – Vice President, Mr Sri Tharan – Secretary and Mr Sze Wing Kian Treasurer.
As one of its primary objectives was offering support to colorectal cancer patients, CORU at the invitation of Hospital Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia Specialist Centre started a Support Centre there in December 2013. In March 2014 another Support Centre was started at Pantai Hospital, Kuala Lumpur and in April 2015 the CORUM CRC Support Centre at University of Malaya Medical Centre started operations. With the increasing interest in this aspect of CORUM’s service, two of CORUM’s Volunteer Peer-Supporters attended a three-day intensive Reach-to-Recovery training programme at Pantai Hospital, Ipoh.
A one day Induction Training session was held in June, 2014 for volunteer supporters who have since joined the programme. CORUM currently provides Peer-Support services at Pantai Hospital Kuala Lumpur (PH KL) and University of Malaya Medical Centre (UMMC). In 2014 CORUM Peer-Supporters provided about 700 volunteer-hours of service and saw 101 patients at the 3 clinics serviced. Currently our Peer-Supporters are volunteering an average of 24 hours of service per week.
CORUM has also organized a number of talks for cancer patients, families, carers and others and also conducted Caring-and-Sharing sessions where patients got to share their experiences coping with cancer. The highlight of CORUM’s activities is the annual CORUM CONVENTION which is held on the sidelines of the COLOPROCTOLOGY conference of the Malaysian Society of Colorectal Surgeons each year. In March 2015, with the support of Pantai Hospital, Kuala Lumpur, a successful awareness programme “Carnival for a Cure and Treasure Hunt” was held at the Medical Academies of Malaysia, Kuala Lumpur.
