Qatar Cancer Society (QCS) celebrated the 25th anniversary of its establishment at a special ceremony at St Regis Doha coinciding with the conclusion of the ‘Blossom Campaign’ for breast cancer awareness that continued throughout October.
QCS chairman Sheikh Dr Khalid bin Jabor al-Thani welcomed the gathering and highlighted the milestones of the society in its journey since its establishment in 1997. The event was attended by a number of Qatari dignitaries as well as ambassadors of a large number of countries and partners among others.
Sheikh Dr Khalid said: “ It has been an amazing journey, providing comfort and succor to hundreds of people all through these years. We have had several important events and always emphasised on the importance of achieving partnerships to build communities. With your continued support, it will continue its path toward giving out to the community under the guidance of our wise leadership.”
“There are three major milestones in the journey of the centre. We opened it in 1997 and at that time people were not even ready to speak about cancer. It was not acceptable to talk about the disease. We could overcome this through our constant efforts,” he explained.
“The second milestone was that we could provide cancer care and necessary assistance to all the cancer patients of the country irrespective of citizens or residents and even some of the visitors. The third aspect is the establishment of the education and training centre which helped us reach out to thousands of people through awareness programmes. It is an accredited training centre by the Ministry of Public Health and several other entities,” he continued.
Sheikh Dr Khalid pointed out that in 2017, the Cancer Awareness Centre was opened marking a new qualitative leap in the march of QCS and the first of its kind in the Middle East. Under the Regulatory Authority for Charitable Activities umbrella, QCS has become an active member of many international organisations, most notably the Union for International Cancer Control.
He added that QCS is a founding member of the International Cancer Prevention Consortium, a member of the National Cancer Framework in Qatar, and a member of the Gulf Federation for Cancer Control.
In 2021, the number of beneficiaries of community awareness programmes reached 450,000, and there were 26,000 beneficiaries of psychological and social support programmes for people living with cancer. Nearly 7,000 health sector workers' benefited from capacity-building programmes.
Also, in 2021 the number of beneficiaries of the financial support programmes reached nearly 1,400 with a total cost of QR13mn for adult patients at the National Centre for Cancer Care and Research and paediatric cancer patients at Sidra Medicine. In the first half of 2022, nearly 980 patients were treated - at a total cost of QR6mn.
At the event, Dr Irtefaa al-Shammari, breast surgery specialist and an honorary ambassador of QCS, presented information about conducting early detection of cancer, especially breast cancer. Cancer survivor, Aisha al-Tamimi presented her experience of recovering from cancer and her husband, Ahmed Abdulmalik shared his experience.
QCS chairman Sheikh Dr Khalid bin Jabor al-Thani welcomed the gathering and highlighted the milestones of the society in its journey since its establishment in 1997. The event was attended by a number of Qatari dignitaries as well as ambassadors of a large number of countries and partners among others.
Sheikh Dr Khalid bin Jabor al-Thani speaking at the event.
Sheikh Dr Khalid said: “ It has been an amazing journey, providing comfort and succor to hundreds of people all through these years. We have had several important events and always emphasised on the importance of achieving partnerships to build communities. With your continued support, it will continue its path toward giving out to the community under the guidance of our wise leadership.”
“There are three major milestones in the journey of the centre. We opened it in 1997 and at that time people were not even ready to speak about cancer. It was not acceptable to talk about the disease. We could overcome this through our constant efforts,” he explained.
“The second milestone was that we could provide cancer care and necessary assistance to all the cancer patients of the country irrespective of citizens or residents and even some of the visitors. The third aspect is the establishment of the education and training centre which helped us reach out to thousands of people through awareness programmes. It is an accredited training centre by the Ministry of Public Health and several other entities,” he continued.
Sheikh Dr Khalid pointed out that in 2017, the Cancer Awareness Centre was opened marking a new qualitative leap in the march of QCS and the first of its kind in the Middle East. Under the Regulatory Authority for Charitable Activities umbrella, QCS has become an active member of many international organisations, most notably the Union for International Cancer Control.
He added that QCS is a founding member of the International Cancer Prevention Consortium, a member of the National Cancer Framework in Qatar, and a member of the Gulf Federation for Cancer Control.
In 2021, the number of beneficiaries of community awareness programmes reached 450,000, and there were 26,000 beneficiaries of psychological and social support programmes for people living with cancer. Nearly 7,000 health sector workers' benefited from capacity-building programmes.
Also, in 2021 the number of beneficiaries of the financial support programmes reached nearly 1,400 with a total cost of QR13mn for adult patients at the National Centre for Cancer Care and Research and paediatric cancer patients at Sidra Medicine. In the first half of 2022, nearly 980 patients were treated - at a total cost of QR6mn.
At the event, Dr Irtefaa al-Shammari, breast surgery specialist and an honorary ambassador of QCS, presented information about conducting early detection of cancer, especially breast cancer. Cancer survivor, Aisha al-Tamimi presented her experience of recovering from cancer and her husband, Ahmed Abdulmalik shared his experience.
