JEDDAH, 16 October — King Faisal Specialist Hospital in Jeddah has hosted the Cancer Symposium, an event that provided an open discussion for cancer patients, their families and the invited speakers.
Dr. Sultan Ba-Hebri, general-director of KFSH, spoke about the Oncology department in the hospital, which he described as one of fastest developing Oncology Departments for cancer treatment in the world.
He said: "I am very proud that we opened the Bone Marrow Transplant Unit, which is the latest treatment for cancer. This department has treated five patients so far and achieved very good results. It is very important to pinpoint that this therapy costs SR3,000,000 per patient, which means that all efforts should be made to fight this disease."
Dr. Ba-Hebri said improving the handling of cancer cases is a priority in order to make the treatment more positive and less painful mentally and physically for the patient.
Later, Dr. Ez-Aldin Ibraheem, the head of the Oncology Department at KFSH and the head of the symposium, noted that his department had received and treated 700 new patients last year, and 50 percent of them had been given chemotherapy.
He said: "The medical treatment for this disease is not enough. The most important element in treating cancer is the early detection, which can be achieved only by public awareness, early detection means, and increasing the chances of recovery. Moreover, the cancer patient needs more than just medical treatment. He needs physiological and social help, as well as religious guidance."
Saudi Arabia has 39 cases of cancer per 100,000 of its population, which is much lower than the prevalence rate of this deadly disease in neighboring countries, Europe and the United States.
