Promoting new approaches for cancer care in the Middle East

Abstract

Cancer is now the fastest growing killing disease in the Middle East. Accordingly, there is an urgent need to train local health professionals: oncologists, palliative care experts, oncology nurses, psychologists, along with social workers, physiotherapists and spiritual counselors on strategies for early detection, curative therapies and palliation. Professionals in the region, along with the public, need to convince medical administrators, regulators and policymakers about investing in education and training of YOUNG professionals, as well as those with already proven experience in cancer care. Training is the basis for any future cancer care program, which aims at the integration of palliative care practices into standard oncology care across the trajectory of the illness.

Cancer Care in Countries and Societies in Transition

“…Issues related to management of information in patient receiving treatment for cancer are the center of literature on communication in cancer [15,16]. Informing patients with cancer the truth about their diagnosis and progress, or otherwise, is still presumed harmful to the patient [6, p. vii-xiv].…”

Management of veno‐occlusive disease: the multidisciplinary approach to care

“…Nurses are often recognised as being the most informed about the most up-to-date status of a patient, making them best placed to alert medical colleagues of any deterioration that might require intervention (13). Moreover, nurses can play a key role in providing clear and accessible verbal and written medical information to patients and carers, in a timely and sensitive manner (13).…”

“…It is pivotal to recognise complications early and manage those appropriately without delay, in an attempt to avoid the onset of late signs, such as bleeding, abnormal liver function tests, pulmonary failure or MOF; everyone is responsible, and the multidisciplinary approach to care has been identified as a key enabler in the provision of high‐quality treatment and care in oncology . It is generally considered that the peak incidence of VOD occurs around Day 12 (post‐transplant).…”

Setting a Higher Standard in Cancer Care: Isn’ t it Time to Bring about a Change in Cancer Palliation?

“…Significantly, inadequate treatment of acute and chronic pain is an enormous problem the world over, but especially in resource-poor countries: 80% of the world population lacks adequate access to pain treatment [13][14][15][16][17], especially as most cancer patients in the Middle East present with advanced disease [18,19]. The issue of very low opioid consumption in Middle Eastern countries is well known [20][21][22][23][24], with all surveyed countries, except Israel, indicating <10% of the anticipated Adequacy of Consumption Measure (ACM) for opioids (Table 1).…”