Hairdo, Cancer or Almost a Helix Bridge?

Remember Minister Lim Hng Kiang's comments in 2001 about how women ought to skip a hairdo and use that money for a mammogram instead?

According to Breast Cancer Foundation, a mammogram costs S$50 at the polyclinics.

A couple of days ago, MP Halimah Yacob urged the authorities to allow the use of Medisave to pay for cervical cancer vaccination. Cervical cancer is the 5th most common cancer among Singaporean women. Each year, about 200 women are diagnosed with cervical cancer and about 100 die from the disease.

I'm not sure whether using Medisave is the right solution because not every female who needs and/or is in the optimal phase of her life (12 to 26) to receive the cervical cancer vaccination has Medisave, but Halimah Yacob's right about seeking help from the authorities to help to pay for the vaccination.

This is because a cervical cancer vaccination costs about S$150-S$200. That's 3 or 4 hairdos. Too much to ask of females to forego, yah? Up to 1/3 of the year without going to the hairdresser!

Imagine women with bad hair days walking around for 1/3 of the year. Scary! May have drastic impact on our productivity, tourism arrivals/receipts (young SQ girls with months of bad hair days?!), and ultimately... THE GDP! *gasp* Utterly Unacceptable!
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Check out the wikipedia entry on the vaccine, and compare how some countries are rolling out heavily subsidised or free of charge and/or mandatory vaccines for their people. In general for girls from age of 12 to 26.

Citizens + PRs = 2mil + 1mil = 3mil
Female = 50%
Female Residents from age 12 to 26 = estimated 15% = 225,000
Assume FOC for Citizens and S$100 subsidy for PRs,
Total one-time cost to SINGOV = S$38 million.
Recurring cost henceforth = S$2.8 million

What does S$38mil mean?
That's about 35% of the cost of the upcoming Youth Olympics Games at S$105mil. Or perhaps almost the cost of the Helix Bridge. No biggie.

And S$2.8 million?
Maybe a few sessions of fireworks over Marina Bay.

Please don't say, without the vaccine, you can still prevent cervical cancer by going for a Pap Smear Test at a 'cheaper' S$15 a pop in the polyclinics once every 3 years till you expire. Or that 200 cervical cancer cases per year are too few for any broad base prevention programme.