Tawam Hospital organizes a walk with cancer patients and their families

The initiative is aimed to increase cancer awareness and is the second of its kind to be hosted by the government-owned hospital. All proceeds from the "Walk for Life" event will be given to Oncology patients.

Tawam Hospital first hosted to the UAE national cancer registry office based in the hospital offering services to all UAE national and expatriates. In 1998, it became known as the National Cancer Registry covering all UAE cancer patients. Tawam Hospital has a dedicated social workers and cancer awareness committee whose aim is to promote awareness of cancer, increase knowledge of the disease among the public and encourage the population of the UAE to see their doctors for routine checkups as well as perform self examinations, and improve the quality of life of cancer patients. Tawam Hospital employees, social workers, patients, their families and everyone else who wish to participate in supporting cancer patients, took part in the second themed "Walk for Life" walking a distance of 3 kilometers around the AL Ain Zoo & Aquarium.

Commenting on the second "Walk for Life", Sumaya Ismail Al Raisi, Social Worker at Tawam Hospital said: "Tawam and Johns Hopkins' "Walk for Life" is the second event of its kind, with the first having been held in January 2007. It was a great success last year and has proven to be extremely rewarding to all participants and organizers this year. At Tawam and speaking on behalf of my social worker colleagues, we are proactive in our approach in reaching out to the public and spreading further understanding of the disease. There are over 100 different types of cancer, yet most people can only name a few. That is why we believe that it is of extreme importance that people learn about the disease. They have had the opportunity to do so in this year's event as well as showing their undeniable support to those suffering from cancer."

According to the National Cancer Institute (NCI) in the USA, cancer is now becoming more of a global burden than ever before. Similarly the World Health Organization (WHO) projected that fatalities from cancer will continue to rise with an estimated 9 million people dying of cancer in 2015 and 11.4 million dying in 2030.

Remarking on these figures, Dr. Jorgen Kristensen, Head of the Oncology Department at Tawam Hospital, said: "These figures are alarming, although these are based on the latest death rates, they do not take into account important factors such as future awareness campaigns and prevention strategies. I strongly believe that efforts by physicians, doctors, medical institutions, hospitals, educational centers and non-profit organizations can help in spreading the word, as we do here at Tawam. The "Walk for Life" is just one of our initiatives and is a fun and educational day for all!"

Another recent initiative by Tawam Hospital, a government-owned hospital with exceptionally high medical standards, was the launch of the first mobile mammography screening unit in the UAE in January 2008. The unique program aims to reach interior regions of the UAE and seeks to screen up to 20 female patients a day facilitating the diagnosis of patients in the early stages of the disease and providing them with the best treatment and cure to meet their specific requirements.
"Undeniably cancer can affect anyone and everyone. Young, old, rich, poor, men, women and children; we all are at risk of this disease. Cancer is one of the leading causes of death in the world, yet deaths can be avoided and survival rates increased. Approximately 40% of all cancers can be prevented and others can be detected early, treated and cured. Tawam's Mammography Screening Unit is an example of one of these detection measures. Even with late stage cancer, the suffering of patients can be relieved with good palliative care," added. Dr. Jorgen Kristensen.