JEDDAH, 20 January 2008 — An advanced cancer treatment center will be established at King Faisal Specialist Hospital & Research Center in Riyadh at a cost of SR430 million, it was announced yesterday.
Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah has approved the 300-bed facility. It will be named after the king, said Dr. Qasim Al-Qasabi, the CEO of the hospital. He added that it would not only serve cancer patients but also people suffering from hepatitis.
“King Abdullah has approved the project and made financial allocations for it in the current fiscal budget,” he said.
Al-Qasabi said the new center would be designed to match world-class medical facilities. Every year about 8,000 cases of cancerous tumor are reported in the Kingdom, he said.
He estimated that the number of cancer patients in the Kingdom would increase dramatically by 2020. “This demands advanced diagnosis and treatment,” he added. “The new center will be an addition to advanced diagnosis and treatment facilities readied by the government to help those suffering from chronic diseases to receive timely treatment,” Al-Qasabi said.
