Qatar Cancer Society (QCS) has launched an awareness campaign "Your Health empowers them " to mark November, recognised globally as Men's Health Awareness Month.
The campaign aims to highlight men's health and increase awareness about the most common types of cancer. It includes a series of educational events and activities, such as workshops and awareness lectures, targeting all segments of society. The campaign also includes early screening initiatives to detect these cancers and disseminating awareness messages through media and social media platforms, encouraging men to adopt a healthy lifestyle and regularly visit doctors.
Speaking about the most common cancers among men, Dr Mohammed Eltagalawi, a health educator at the Qatar Cancer Society, said prostate cancer is the most common globally, followed by lung cancer and colorectal cancer. In the Middle East and Qatar, however, the common types of cancer may vary due to factors such as lifestyle and genetics.
Dr Eltagalawi also emphasised the importance of raising awareness about early detection of urological cancers. Early detection helps identify the first symptoms of the disease, increasing the chances of effective treatment. He added that awareness helps reduce risks by informing people about risk factors such as smoking and poor nutrition and promotes prevention through encouraging regular screenings and a healthy lifestyle.
Regarding the rates of urological cancers in Qatar, Dr Eltagalawi explained that prostate cancer is the most common urological cancer according to reports from the Ministry of Public Health and the Qatar National Cancer Registry, followed by bladder and kidney cancers. He also noted that testicular cancer is the most common cancer among young people aged 20 to 35.
Early symptoms of urological cancers, he noted, include the presence of blood in the urine, pain in the lower back or sides without an obvious cause, difficulty or frequent urination, and the feeling of not fully emptying the bladder. Symptoms may also include unexplained weight loss or persistent fatigue.
There are major risk factors that increase the likelihood of developing urological cancers including smoking, which increases the risk of bladder cancer, a family history of urological cancer, chronic bladder infections, as well as obesity, and an unhealthy lifestyle.
