Amid Abu Humaidan PIC: Abdul Basit
The Qatar Cancer Plan, which aims to improve the country’s cancer services, will be launched in January 2023, an official of the Ministry of Public Health (MoPH) said.
Amid Abu Humaidan, Ministry of Public Health (MoPH) Director of the National Cancer Registry also revealed that a psychosocial support programme will likewise be introduced next year — a first of its kind in the region. “This is something that Qatar is going to be a leader in. So we need people to trust the healthcare sector and come forward whenever they feel that they have a problem,” he said.
Speaking on the sidelines of a workshop organised by MoPH and Qatar Cancer Society (QCS) for the media to enlighten them about cancer misconceptions and myths, Humaidan explained that the Qatar Cancer Plan will run in two phases every four years, from 2023-2026, and 2027-2030.
“It has six chapters that cover the whole pathway of the patient that hopefully will improve the cancer services in the country.”
He said that the programme is not new, rather a new plan. And it has already been approved by the Minister of Public Health H E Dr. Hanan Mohamed Al Kuwari.
Back in 2011, the National Cancer Program was established which provides the foundations to ensure a national approach toward cancer care in Qatar. It implemented the National Cancer Strategy 2011-2016, and in 2017 the National Cancer Framework 2017-2022 was released. Both the strategy and the framework aim to reduce the burden of cancer in the country whilst ensuring that cancer services are amongst the best in the world to improve cancer outcomes.
On the cancer statistics in Qatar, Humaidan said that the number is increasing “but it is not a reflection of the disease itself, it’s a reflection of two things – increase in the population, also increase in the method of detecting cancer cases”. He explained that the cases are being detected now because of the new measures that have been implemented, hence the increase of the number.
During the workshop on Monday, Humaidan said there is a need to correct bad concepts about cancer and the correction is not only limited to a certain age, level of society, “even the healthcare sector is likewise working on it”.
He urged individuals that if they find any symptoms that is “worrisome” and that something is “wrong with their body,” they must approach a healthcare professional immediately. Humaidan has stressed that there is also a need to establish trust between the patient and healthcare sector.
“We want to be able to trust that the healthcare services in Qatar is comparative to the ones they see anywhere else in the world. We’re making a lot of efforts in improving the techniques that are used in healthcare, quality of personnel – physicians, nurses, technicians. We are working in improving the patient’s experience – it’s not only about the healthcare itself.”
According to Qatar National Registry, women specifically between the age of 60 and above stop using the healthcare services. “They simply disappear from the healthcare service, they don’t come , they have symptoms, and problems – they don’t seek help, they don’t come for physicians’ help – these are things that we need to change,” Humaidan said.
A total of 1,960 new cancer cases were diagnosed in 2018. Of these cases, 20 percent were Qataris and 80 percent were residents, with 46 percent women and 54 percent men. The study was made public in April last year.
The most common cancer was breast cancer with 16.58 percent of all cancer cases, followed by colorectal cancer at 9.44 percent, while thyroid cancer was the third most common cancer at 6.33 percent.
