Qatar Cancer Plan (2023-2030), a new initiative that will hopefully enhance the cancer services in the country in a big way, will be launched in January 2023, a top official of the Ministry of Public Health (MoPH) revealed on Monday.
“Qatar Cancer Plan will go up to 2030 in two phases. The first is from 2023 to 2026 and then until 2030,” explained, Amid Abu Hmaidan, acting director of the National Cancer Programme at MoPH.
He was speaking to the media on the sidelines of a workshop organised by MoPH and Qatar Cancer Society to raise awareness about cancer and various myths and misconceptions associated with the disease.
“The plan has six chapters that cover all the pathway for patients. We believe that the new initiative will hopefully enhance the cancer services in the country in a big way. It is already approved by the Minister of Public Health and there will be extensive campaigns when we launch it,” he said.
Dr Kholoud al-Muttawaa, head of Non-Communicable Disease Department at MoPH and senior consultant, Community Medicine, said that there will be a series of workshops to educate and raise awareness about cancer among various segments of the community.
“This workshop is part of a series for raising awareness about cancer as well as the misconceptions about it. This will also throw light on some of the stigmas prevalent in the communities about cancer,” she said.
“We have already conducted some workshops for social workers, healthcare professionals and others. This will continue and we will meet up with other groups and educate them about the disease. This type of workshops will help people get the right channel in seeking medical assistance. We had three workshops already and we aim to have many more,” continued, Dr al-Muttawaa.
According to Hmaidan, the increase in the number of cancer cases is not a reflection of the disease in the country. “There are two facts for it. The population is increasing and naturally the number might go up. Again another major factor is the improvements in detecting cancer cases. There were some cancer cases that could not be detected earlier. But now, we are able to detect every cancer case and therefore we have more numbers,” he noted.
The official also pointed out that the workshops focus on four aspects about the disease. “We primarily want to set right some of the misconceptions about the disease. We also want to raise awareness about early symptoms of the disease so that patients can seek immediate medical support which will lead to early detection of the disease,” he pointed out.
“Other aspect is that we want to establish trust between the patients and healthcare facilities so that they will have no apprehension in approaching the medical centres and seeking assistance and medical care. Lastly, we want to ensure quality of life for the recovered patients. This will help them face any challenges with all the confidence and optimism,” added Hmaidan.
“Qatar Cancer Plan will go up to 2030 in two phases. The first is from 2023 to 2026 and then until 2030,” explained, Amid Abu Hmaidan, acting director of the National Cancer Programme at MoPH.
He was speaking to the media on the sidelines of a workshop organised by MoPH and Qatar Cancer Society to raise awareness about cancer and various myths and misconceptions associated with the disease.
“The plan has six chapters that cover all the pathway for patients. We believe that the new initiative will hopefully enhance the cancer services in the country in a big way. It is already approved by the Minister of Public Health and there will be extensive campaigns when we launch it,” he said.
Dr Kholoud al-Muttawaa, head of Non-Communicable Disease Department at MoPH and senior consultant, Community Medicine, said that there will be a series of workshops to educate and raise awareness about cancer among various segments of the community.
“This workshop is part of a series for raising awareness about cancer as well as the misconceptions about it. This will also throw light on some of the stigmas prevalent in the communities about cancer,” she said.
“We have already conducted some workshops for social workers, healthcare professionals and others. This will continue and we will meet up with other groups and educate them about the disease. This type of workshops will help people get the right channel in seeking medical assistance. We had three workshops already and we aim to have many more,” continued, Dr al-Muttawaa.
According to Hmaidan, the increase in the number of cancer cases is not a reflection of the disease in the country. “There are two facts for it. The population is increasing and naturally the number might go up. Again another major factor is the improvements in detecting cancer cases. There were some cancer cases that could not be detected earlier. But now, we are able to detect every cancer case and therefore we have more numbers,” he noted.
The official also pointed out that the workshops focus on four aspects about the disease. “We primarily want to set right some of the misconceptions about the disease. We also want to raise awareness about early symptoms of the disease so that patients can seek immediate medical support which will lead to early detection of the disease,” he pointed out.
“Other aspect is that we want to establish trust between the patients and healthcare facilities so that they will have no apprehension in approaching the medical centres and seeking assistance and medical care. Lastly, we want to ensure quality of life for the recovered patients. This will help them face any challenges with all the confidence and optimism,” added Hmaidan.
