Under the patronage of HH Sheikh Hamdan Bin Rashid Al Maktoum Deputy Ruler of Dubai, UAE Minister of Finance and President of Dubai Health Authority, Mr. Abdullah Bin Souqat, Executive Director of Sheikh Hamdan Bin Rashid Al Maktoum Award for Medical Sciences, opened UAE Cancer Congress 2011 at Grand Hayat hotel in Dubai, entitled “promoting Excellence in Oncology”, with participation of 500 doctors and specialists.

 

At the beginning of his speech, Bin Souqat conveyed the greetings of HH Sheikh Hamdan Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Patron of the conference, to all guests and lecturers as well as the participating institutions in the accompanying exhibition.

 

Bin Souqat stressed on the importance of UAE Cancer Congress as it deals with one of the most serious and critical diseases that threaten our lives in the present time.

 

He said that holding such conferences creates an excellent opportunity for physicians and health care sectors’ workers to exchange up-to-date knowledge in that field of medicine.

 

“Our Government is always keen to organize and support such scientific events to encourage specialization in patient care generally and in Cancer patient care particularly. We further encourage developing the medical field through providing best practices in preventive, diagnostic and therapeutic Evidence Based Medicine”, he added.

 

Also, during the opening ceremony, Mr. Mohamed Mushroom, the son of a patient with abdomen cancer, delivered a speech on the long journey he went through with his mother started from diagnosis of the disease followed by searching for appropriate consultation and treatment centers. Mr. Mushroom talked about several lessons he has learned at the personal levels such as Power of will, hope and being close to God.

 

“Although the past decade has witnessed increased awareness of Cancers within UAE and Gulf Region, Cancers have increased as a result of increasing population and the average of age in addition to the adoption of a westernized lifestyle”, Dr. Shaheena Dawood, president of the congress, said. It is worthy to mention that one of the main goals of this year’s conference is encouraging young researchers to consider the conference as a platform for important research papers in the region. More than hundred abstracts, moreover, were submitted to the congress. During the opening ceremony a number of fellowships were given for the winners of the best abstracts by Mr. Abdullah Bin Souqat and Dr. Shaheena Dawood.

 

The first winner is Dr. Umm AL Khair Abou Al Khair, Medical City of King Abdul Aziz, Amiri Guard’s Health Affairs, KSA. The second winner is Dr. Elzabita Aazpka, Center of Prevention and Treatment of Cancer, USA. The third winner is Dr. Muhammad Iqbal Alexander, Jawahar lal Nehru University, India. Also, the Scientific Research Prize was given to Dr. Noor Al Ain Abu Bakr, Putra University, Malaysia.