LANI ROSE R DIZON

DOHA QATAR should start screening of women for cancer when they are 25 years of age, Manager of Health Promotion and noncommunicable diseases at the Supreme Council of Health (SCH) Dr Al Anoud bint Mohamed al Thani has said. In most countries, such screening starts at 40.

In her presentation titled ‘Cancer Control Programme’ on the occasion of the World Cancer Day on Monday, Dr Al Anoud said that women of 25 years or above are at risk of cancer in Qatar while males from 34 years old are prone to the disease.

“We should emphasise early screening and diagnosis. More than one-third of Qatari cancer patients have the disease at an advanced stage. Early detection of the disease will result in better treatment. Also, studies have concluded that Qatari females in early to mid adulthood show a slightly higher incidence of cancer compared to males, who have slightly higher incidence of the disease in the 55 to 59 years age bracket and again when they are above 70 years of age,” she said.

Dr Al Anoud also said that the most common cancer among Qatari females included breast, uterus, colon, liver and thyroid gland cancers while prostrate, bone marrow, lung, colon and liver cancers are the most common among males.

“Statistics also show that 815 new cancer cases were diagnosed in Qatar in 2010. The study also reveals that the incidence of prostrate cancer among males in Qatar stood at 6.8 percent, breast cancer among females at 15.6 percent while cancer of the colon and rectum stood at 3.3 percent and 2.3 percent among males and females respectively. Liver cancer incidence stood at 1.5 percent among males and 2.3 percent among females, while bladder cancer among males was at 1.4 percent and 0.1 percent among females,” she said.