JEDDAH, 6 July 2006 — When her mother fell ill with breast cancer three years ago, Dr. Suad Bin Amer, head of the Breast Cancer Research Unit at Riyadh’s King Faisal Specialist Hospital, became inspired to intensify her efforts in creating awareness of breast cancer and researching the illness.
Dr. Amer gave a presentation at the first Saudi Business and Professional Women’s Association (SBAPWA) forum yesterday. The forum tackled the upcoming challenges and opportunities facing businesswomen and professional women in the Middle East.
Dr. Amer related to the theme by addressing the issue of women working together on an international level. The title of her paper was “The value of international partnerships: Improving breast cancer awareness and research with the US-Middle East partnership on breast cancer.”
“Are you ready? What shall we do? As a Saudi woman, I would like to emphasize the importance of women from the Middle East and other countries cooperating to create awareness of breast cancer. After 10 years of hard work, and with the help of volunteers from the UAE, Saudi Arabia and the United States, we were able to form partnerships between all three of these countries to become aware of the latest information that is available about breast cancer,” said Dr. Amer.
According to her, the partnership will help spread awareness and increase research into the growing problem of breast cancer in the region. Discussing such a contentious issue in the region is considered somewhat of a cultural taboo.
Dr. Amer began to focus on breast cancer disease after she conducted a study between 1998 and 2001 about the occurrence of the disease among men and women in both Saudi Arabia and the US. Statistics showed that 30 percent of Saudis who suffer from breast cancer are between the ages of 20 and 40 whereas only 10 percent of Americans who are afflicted with the disease are in the same age group. The statistics further showed that 51 percent of sufferers in the Kingdom were between the ages of 40 and 60 whereas in the United States the percentage is 38.
In 2002, Dr. Amer studied the development of breast cancer disease in the Kingdom and the US. Patients who were in their early stages of the disease and had good chances of being cured made up only 15 percent of cancer sufferers in the Kingdom whereas in the US these people made up 85 percent of sufferers. Patients in the most complicated stages of the disease made up 85 percent of sufferers in the Kingdom and only five percent in the US.
Clinical observations in Saudi Arabia showed that breast cancer usually occurs at an early stage, is then reported at a advanced stage and comes in a rather aggressive fashion. Sad and shocked at the results, Dr. Amer was determined to raise awareness and intensify research to reduce the percentage of breast cancer patients.
Educating and training a young generation of volunteers was the first step in establishing the breast cancer program. Fund-raising and awareness was the second phase and then conducting advanced research the third. The group led by Dr. Amer targeted all possible places where women would gather including shopping malls, coffee shops, and hairdressers. The group worked hard in spreading indirect messages about the illness.
In 2001, the Breast Cancer Research Unit was established at the King Faisal Specialist Hospital and then in June 2006, Dr. Amer led a group of Saudi breast cancer specialist to a successful exchange visit to the United States. During their two-week stay, the group traveled with other women’s health care professionals from the United Arab Emirates to Washington, Baltimore and Houston for extensive consultations with their American counterparts on how best to promote breast cancer awareness and research.
The visit resulted in the establishment of the US Middle East Partnership for Breast Cancer Awareness and Research Campaign.
The group has a rather uphill task of creating awareness but diligently women like Dr. Amer continue to strive to tell other women about breast cancer. It will take time but the group ultimately aims to help women gain the knowledge and confidence needed for them to take charge of their own health.
