Call for National Campaign for Early Detection...
Added On : 15th May 2009
Call for National Campaign for Early Detection of Cancer
JEDDAH Around 8,000 cases of cancer are reported annually in the Kingdom. This was disclosed by Dr. Mohamed Al-Jahni, chairman of the environmental committee in the JCCI, at a conference titled Cancer Cure in 2009 held at the Movenpick Hotel here on Wednesday.
The conference was attended by a large number of international and local experts.
Holding environmental pollution responsible for the spread of the disease, Al-Jahni urged all the relevant organizations and industrial units to help protect the environment.
He also called on the media to help increase awareness about cancer, its prevention and the protection of the environment.
Al-Jahni was of the view that a separate subject on environmental issues should be included in the school curriculum to educate youth on this important issue. He stressed the need for investment in the environmental domain.
Dr. Abdul Rahim Gari, a hematologist and oncologist and director of the center for the treatment of tumors and blood diseases, said that breast cancer was the most widespread cancer among Saudi women.
He said approximately 1,500 new cases of breast cancer were diagnosed every year. He, however, added that around 5,500 cases had been successfully treated at his center so far.
Gari stressed the need for the initiation of national campaigns to help check the spread of this deadly disease.
Nowadays one can find advertisements for various herbal products on the Internet and TV claiming a 100 percent cure for cancer.
In order to find out more about this, Saudi Gazette talked to Dr. Ahmed Stite, a consultant at Gari Medical Center.
He rejected the claims made by producers of such herbal products, and said a number of patients had visited him complaining of further complications after taking the advertised medicines.
People should avoid any treatment or product not duly certified by the Ministry of Health, he said. SG
Farah Mustafa Wadi - Saudi Gazette
