UAE: Cancer patients to receive free treatment in new initiative

A new UAE initiative will be extending financial support to cancer patients who cannot afford their treatments.

The Ministry of Health and Prevention signed a partnership with Merck Serono Middle East and Al Manzil healthcare services to help patients who do not have health insurance and those with partial coverage.

Residents who have been diagnosed with colorectal, head and neck, and urothelial cancer — as well as multiple sclerosis — can avail of the programme.

The initiative named ‘Rawan’ was signed by Dr Amin Hussein Al Amiri, undersecretary of health regulation sector; Ramsey Morad, head of Middle East, Europe and Africa region, Merck Healthcare; and Yasser Quraishy, managing director at Al Manzil Healthcare Services at the Germany Pavilion at Expo 2020 Dubai.

It is part of a mission to provide the UAE people with healthcare of the highest standard. “Part of this mission is to address the incidence of cancer and other diseases that severely impact our people, and support longer, happier and healthier lives for all,” Al Amiri said.

“With the support of programme such as Rawan, we can ensure that our people can get access to the latest medicines, and improve the overall quality of healthcare in the UAE,” he added.

It is estimated that over 2.3 million people are diagnosed with multiple sclerosis worldwide. Cancer, on the other hand, accounted for nearly 10 million deaths in 2020.

Who can avail of the programme?

Among the factors that will be considered is the patient’s ability to pay, from the income level to country-specific standards of living, assets and expenses. This will determine the patient’s financial contribution to the treatment plan, and the monetary support needed to secure access to treatment.

ayaz@khaleejtimes.com

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• UAE