22 Jan 2018 – 2:20
The Peninsula
DOHA: ‘Screen For Life’, Qatar’s National Breast and Bowel Cancer Screening program, led by the Primary Health Care Corporation, in 2017 has conducted a total of 11,990 breast cancer screenings for eligible women. That figure represented the double the number of breast cancer screenings in the programs inaugural year in 2016.
Screenings were performed across the three dedicated fixed screening facilities at Al Wakra, Leabaib and Rawdat Al Khail Health Centers and the mobile screening unit.
The ‘Screen For Life’ team also screened 8,939 eligible men and women for bowel cancer, nearly three times the number of screenings performed in 2016. In addition to the screenings, the highly experienced team at ‘Screen For Life’ educated and trained hundreds of PHCC physicians on the programs objectives and the intricacies of dealing with patients in the target age brackets, and how to refer them for a breast or bowel screening appointment at one of the specialist facilities.
The team delivered 24 awareness lectures during the course of 2017 attended by 864 people. Also the marketing team scheduled 15 visits for the Mobile Screening Unit in several locations, offering mammograms to eligible women, in addition to the presence of the Mobile Unit in different health centers throughout the year.
‘Screen For Life’ concluded a second successful year of engaging the people of Qatar to raise breast and bowel cancer awareness, and made significant steps in establishing a reputation as a regional leader in cancer care.
With its extensive work gaining increasing regional and global recognition since operations began in 2016, ‘Screen For Life’ was invited to participate in the high-profile 2017 First Gulf Cancer Conference, playing a prominent role in the event. Program manager Dr Shaikha Abu Shaikha shared the successful work of ‘Screen For Life’ with leading oncologists and health professionals.
In addition to the industry-leading cancer conference, Dr Abu Shaikha and team also participated in Arab Health Exhibition and Congress 2017, the Middle East’s largest medical exhibition and conference, which represented another milestone for ‘Screen For Life’.
Throughout 2017, ‘Screen For Life’ accomplished two hugely successful month-long awareness drives to mark global initiatives for Bowel Cancer Awareness Month (March) and Breast Cancer Awareness Month (October).
During the world breast cancer awareness month in October, ‘Screen For Life’ partnered with more than 30 government and private sector entities to raise awareness levels amongst the country’s workforce and the Program’s dedicated mobile screening unit visited around 10 government departments and private sector companies offering complimentary mammograms to more than 150 eligible employees, who were happy to receive the service at their workplace and save time and effort.
The concerted efforts of the team and the support of a large number of government and private sector entities resulted in more than 850 women registering for screening and around 1,300 women undergoing a mammogram during the campaign in the 3 screening suites and onboard the mobile unit.
