Patient navigation was founded at the New York’s Harlem Hospital Center by Dr. Harold Freeman to improve cancer mortality rates among the poor and underserved in New York. Patient navigators work one-on-one with patients to develop solutions to overcome financial, logistical, cultural, or social barriers throughout their cancer journey.

In our patient navigation programme, we ensure treatment continuity and improvement in survivorship by removing barriers to access and care. By systematically removing the barriers to timely healthcare access and ensuring that patients are supported throughout the care continuum, the proportion of patients who received timely diagnosis and timely treatment went up from 70% to more than 90%, and the patients who defaulted treatment went down from 15% to less than 2%. Our navigators are now working in one stop centres called Pink Ribbon Centres in 4 state hospitals (Klang, Seremban, Kuching and Kota Kinabalu).