The Ministry of Public Health launched the electronic platform: Qatar Cancer Information Center, in the presence of a group of specialists and academics from Qatar and the Gulf Cooperation Council countries on Thursday evening, Jun 2, 2022.

The Qatar Cancer Information Center is considered the national reference for information related to cancer in the State of Qatar, and it aims to provide a comprehensive governance system for high-quality, up-to-date, and reliable information on cancer and communication between all concerned institutions and individuals.

In the opening speech, Dr. Saleh Ali Al-Marri, Assistant Minister of Public Health for Health Affairs, stressed the importance of developing cancer services in the State of Qatar and its impact on society, explaining that the Ministry of Public Health, in cooperation with public and private sector institutions, has developed strategic plans to achieve this goal through the national strategy.

The Assistant Minister of Public Health for Health Affairs added: “The Qatar Cancer Information Center will work to spread awareness of the disease and build bridges between health care providers and researchers to ensure the advancement of health services provided to cancer patients." He also thanked the staff of the National Cancer Program at the Ministry of Public Health and all workers in the health services sector, Qatar Red Crescent, and the Qatar Cancer Society for their medical and societal efforts toward cancer patients.

Lord Ara Darzi, Chairman of the National Council for Cancer Governance, said: "The support and guidance of the Government of Qatar to health strategies has paid off through the distinguished level of services provided to cancer patients in the country." Lord Darzi explained that the first national cancer strategy 2011-2016 laid the foundation for distinguished health services, then the national cancer framework came to complete this process by building a complete system that covers all stages of the disease, starting from awareness and early detection, through developing treatment systems and ending with encouraging scientific research. in this jurisdiction. He also thanked Her Excellency Dr. Hanan Mohamed Al Kuwari, Minister of Public Health, for her continuous support to all cancer services in the country.

Sheikh Dr. Mohammed bin Hamad Al Thani, Director of the Public Health Department at the Ministry of Public Health, said that the State of Qatar attaches great importance to the health sector in improving the health of the Qatari community and achieving the goals of Qatar National Vision 2030. He also praised the support of the Minister of Public Health for national health strategies to achieve development goals. Health services systems in the country. He also stressed that the Ministry of Public Health is working with a continuous effort to raise health services according to the highest levels of international assessment, through the development of national plans and programs for the various health sectors, including cancer.

The Director of the Public Health Department explained that the Qatar Cancer Information Center will constitute an important reference for every researcher, health care provider and community members, and will also ensure permanent monitoring of cancer information in a manner that preserves the rights of the patient. He thanked the members of the National Cancer Program and everyone who participated in the establishment of the important center.

On this occasion, His Excellency Sheikh Dr. Khalid bin Jabor Al Thani, Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Qatar Cancer Society, expressed his happiness to participate in the opening of the Qatar Cancer Information Center, praising the pivotal role and tireless efforts led by the National Cancer Program under the umbrella of the Ministry of Public Health in Qatar in the field of cancer control. He praised the continuous cooperation between the Society and the National Cancer Program in several areas, most notably the unified national initiatives to raise awareness of cancer, building the capacities of health workers through continuing medical education programs, as well as cooperation in the field of Qatar National Cancer Control Plan 2023-2025, as well as cooperation with the National Cancer Registry in Qatar and inform them of the cancer registry data as well as with the Qatar Cancer Network.

Amid Abu Humaidan, Director of the National Cancer Registry at the Ministry of Public Health, gave a detailed presentation on the online platform of the Qatar Cancer Information Center, where he explained that the center is based on three axes, namely:

• The Cancer Information Governance Council, which is formed of a group of specialists, including cybersecurity specialists, human rights specialists, and epidemiologists, in addition to a group of doctors from various specializations in the field of cancer treatment. The Council sets all policies related to the protection of cancer information and includes three electronic services, which are the service of data requests from the Qatar National Cancer Registry, the service of reviewing documents used in cancer awareness campaigns, and the service of documenting cancer records to raise their efficiency and ensure the confidentiality of patient information.
  
• Developing the Qatar National Cancer Registry by developing a modern electronic platform that allows the health sector in the country to report cancer cases in an easy and scientific manner, and linking the platform to statistical programs that provide researchers and doctors with information on cancer rates on a regular and automatic basis without the need to refer to the registry management, and cover cancer information To include all stages from early detection to diagnosis and treatment, follow-up and palliative treatment. In addition to developing the registry to qualify it to receive data on personal medicine related to the genetic makeup of patients. And creating a special registry for early detection data and linking it to a registry of cancer rates. And raising the content of the data to become, for the most part, fully conforming to international specifications and regulations, which will allow for more comparative studies with regard to infection rates.
  
• Establishing a cancer information network. The network principle is based on the membership of all cancer workers in all their centers and specializations and linking them to each other to learn about the activities, research, and expertise available in the country. The network constitutes a success story for the cancer services sector and is the only one of its kind in the Arab region. The Cancer Information Network will allow linking all sectors working in cancer services in order to raise efficiency through the network elements represented in: members directory, research laboratories, job bank, events and activities, opportunities for funding scientific research, dialogue forum, and research capabilities, in addition to a call for cooperation. , which is a special service that allows the member to launch an appeal to all members of a certain specialization as he needs it in one of the projects.

Source and cover image credit: Press release

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Cassandra Pallagud

Content Writer

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