How can policymakers and industry tackle the region’s rising occurrence of cancer?
The Economist Events, part of the global English-language weekly newspaper, is hosting the first ever “War on Cancer”Middle East conference in Dubai on May 1st 2018 at The Taj Hotel. The conference will also see the launch of The Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health ‘Health Systems in Action: Breast Cancer in the Middle East’ (HIBA) study.
Over the past six years throughout the UAE the incidence of cancer has almost doubled, and by 2030 is expected to rise faster than any other region in the world. At the one day War on Cancer event, industry professionals, government and academics will explore and address ways of tackling the prevalence of the disease in the region through robust panel sessions and debates on innovation and international best practices.
“We believe that bringing the global War on Cancer conference to the region will provide a platform for the healthcare industry to converge, recognise and discuss various innovative solutions for addressing the increasing incidence of the disease throughout Middle East,” said Charles Goddard, editorial director, Asia-Pacific, The Economist Intelligence Unit, and chair of the event.
The conference will analyse ways to mitigate this rise through government-led education around lifestyle changes, poor healthcare access and late presentations. The mission is complicated by a lack of quality data on cancer incidence, mortality and patient satisfaction.
The first regional report addressing breast cancer in the Middle East will also be launched at the event. This cancer is now the most common form among women in the Middle East, and the HIBA study has been conducted in partnership with relevant authorities and experts in Jordan, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Oman and the United Arab Emirates to assess breast cancer treatment in the Middle East and their impact on outcomes. HIBA will be providing evidence-based policy options to optimise future breast cancer outcomes for patients.
“We are proud to have joined forces with experts from the Middle East. We are all working towards the same objective: saving lives. The HIBA study is the fruit of this collaboration, led by Middle East experts for Middle East audiences. It is also the first step in the journey towards future collaborations, recognising that breast cancer care is a shared responsibility, to avert unnecessary deaths from this major killer in women” said Dr Rifat Atun, professor of Global Health Systems at Harvard University.
The Economist Events global summit first began in London. However, it has since expanded to Boston, Oslo, Hong Kong, Singapore, Jakarta, Colombia and now the Middle East. The Economist Events hosts conferences all over the world--amounting to over 80 events last year in over 30 different countries, discussing important global issues with world-class speakers.
The War on Cancer Summit is on May 1st 2018, at the Taj Hotel, Business Bay. For more information and for registration visit: https://bit.ly/2GaWcWJ
The Human Side 