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‘Insurance cover for breast scan must’
ABU DHABI - About six to seven cases per 1,000 women who undergo screening are diagnosed with breast cancer every year, said a senior heath official.
“The current detection rate is 0.6 per cent per 1,000 women screened. And these are healthy women who didn’t know they have a problem till they went for breast screening,” said Dr Jalaa Taher, head of the Cancer Control and Prevention at the Health Authority – Abu Dhabi (HAAD).
According to Dr Taher, since the HAAD launched its breast cancer awareness campaign, ‘Simply Check’ in 2008, more breast cancer cases are being detected at very early stages, thus decreasing cases in advanced stages.
“We call it at stage zero, where the early changes in the cells (appear) like white dots but have not crossed the membrane,” she explained. In the past four years, detected breast cancer cases in stage 3 in Abu Dhabi emirate have continually declined, from 65 per cent in 2007 to 36 per cent in 2009 and 25 per cent in 2010, according to the latest HAAD figures.
“Early detection decreases mortality; (thus) lots of women will survive breast cancer,” Dr Taher stated.
Speaking to Khaleej Times on Sunday on the sidelines of a recognition ceremony to honour partners and supporters of the 2011 Breast Cancer Awareness Campaign in association with the UAE Red Crescent, Dr Taher said around 170 cases of breast cancer are being detected in the emirate every year. Of the breast cancer patients, the majority are expatriates, while 27 per cent are Emiratis.
She highlighted the importance of providing free screening for the expatriate population. At present, mammogram is not included in the basic insurance plan and that free screening for expats is only provided by the Ministry of Health’s National Screening Programme for Women and Child.
“The non-nationals have a higher rate of breast cancer than the nationals ... so it makes sense to cover all,” she stressed.
She disclosed that the HAAD is currently looking at ways to impose that women are screened for all preventive diseases such as breast cancer and chronic diseases.
“It is more cost-effective to have them undergo screening than treat a patient with cancer,” she explained.
Breast cancer treatment in Abu Dhabi emirate is provided free of charge for all nationalities.
“The ultimate goal is to reduce mortality,” Dr Taher emphasised. She added that the HAAD is currently working on a programme evaluation report, the findings of which will be announced at a later date. Hospitals that specialise on cancer treatment included Tawam Hospital in Al Ain, which has a comprehensive oncology treatment facility, Shaikh Khalifa Medical City, Mafraq Hospital and the International Gulf Cancer Centre in Abu Dhabi.
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