Qatar Cancer Society Celebrates Silver Jubilee

Doha, November 01 (QNA) - The Qatar Cancer Society (QCS) held a ceremony celebrating its 25th anniversary, in the attendance of a number of Their Excellencies Heads of Diplomatic Missions accredited to the country and a group of public and media figures, as well as the society’s partners and supporters, in conjunction with the conclusion of the month-long "Blossom" campaign to raise awareness of breast cancer last October. HE Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Qatar Cancer Society Sheikh Dr. Khalid bin Jabor Al-Thani stressed that the Society’s celebration of its Silver Jubilee reflects the principle of cooperation in creating partnerships to build societies and that the support and assistance received by QCS helped it to arrive to its 25th year, and by continuing this support, QCS will continue in its strive in contributing to the beauty of this benevolent country under its Wise Leadership. His Excellency spoke during his speech about the early stages of the Society’s establishment, explaining that it was a committee composed of a number of ministries and state institutions, with the committee operating in a very simple manner, all the way until its formal establishment in 1997, moving from a simple and modest building to a larger headquarters as the number of employees increased. The Qatar Cancer Information Center was inaugurated in 2017, representing a new qualitative leap in society’s development, with the center being the first of its kind in the Middle East. Additionally, QCS came under the umbrella of the Regulatory Authority for Charitable Activities (RACA) and became an active member of many international organizations: the Union for International Cancer Control (UICC), in addition to being a member of the Gulf Federation for Cancer Control, and a member of the National Cancer Framework 2017-2022 in the State of Qatar. QCS Chairman affirmed that QSC will continue its awareness-raising efforts to achieve its vision and mission, expressing its constant readiness for any future projects with all state agencies and institutions, to support its vision of being a platform for community partnerships, with the goal of making Qatar a pioneer in cancer prevention and mitigation, especially that QCS does not spare an effort to promote community awareness of cancer and ways to prevent it. HE Sheikh Dr. Khalid bin Jabor Al-Thani pointed out that the number of community awareness programs beneficiaries reached 450,000 in 2021, in addition to 26,000 beneficiaries of psychological and social support programs for people living with cancer. QCS Chairman added that nearly 7,000 beneficiaries of capacity-building programs for health sector workers were targeted, and the number of beneficiaries of the financial support programs provided by the Society to patients who are unable to bear the costs of treatment reached nearly 1,400 beneficiaries, at a total cost of QR 13 million, either adult patients at the National Center for Cancer Care and Research (NCCCR) or children with cancer at Sidra Medicine. HE Sheikh Dr. Khalid bin Jabor Al-Thani added that in the first half of 2022, nearly 980 patients got treated at the National Center for Cancer Care and Research and the children with cancer at Sidra Medicine, at a total cost of QR 6 million. For her part, Breast Surgery Specialist and QCS Honorary Ambassador Dr. Ertifaa Al Shammari presented information during the ceremony motivating people to conduct early cancer detection, especially when it comes to women and early breast cancer detection. (QNA)