QCS Chairman Sheikh Dr. Khalid bin Jabor Al Thani addressing the event.
Doha: Qatar Cancer Society (QCS) celebrated its 25th anniversary with a ceremony attended by many ambassadors of foreign and Arab countries and a group of public and media figures, partners, and sponsors, at St. Regis Hotel, coinciding with the conclusion of "Blossom" campaign for breast cancer awareness which continued throughout October.
QCS Chairman H E Sheikh Dr. Khalid bin Jabor Al Thani, said: “We have gathered here on one goal, emphasising the importance of achieving partnerships to build communities. The Qatar Cancer Society completed its 25th year with your support and contribution. With your continued support, it will continue its path toward giving in gratitude for the benevolence of this great country under our wise leadership.”
In his speech, he also spoke about the beginning of the establishment of the charity. “It was a committee composed of a group of ministries and state institutions until it was officially announced and established in 1997 and launched from a simple and modest headquarters, and it was moved to a larger headquarters with the increase in the number of employees."
In 2017, the Cancer Awareness Center was opened, a new qualitative leap in the march of QCS and the first of its kind in the Middle East. Under the Regulatory Authority for Charitable Activities umbrella, it has become an active member of many international organisations, most notably the Union for International Cancer Control (UICC). He added QCS is also a founding member of the International Cancer Prevention Consortium (ICPC), a Member of the National Cancer Framework in Qatar, and a member of the Gulf Federation for Cancer Control.
In 2021, the number of beneficiaries of community awareness programmes of QCS reached 450,000, and 26,000 beneficiaries of psychological and social support programmes for people living with cancer. Nearly 7,000 beneficiaries of health sector workers’ capacity-building programmes were also targeted.
Also the same year, the number of beneficiaries of the financial support programmes reached nearly 1,400, at a total cost of QR13 million — adult patients at the National Center for Cancer Care and Research and paediatric cancer patients at Sidra Medicine. And at the first half of 2022, nearly 980 patients were treated, at a total cost of QR6 million, Dr. Al Thani explained.
Dr. Irtefaa Al Shammari, Breast Surgery Specialist and Honourary Ambassador of QCS, also presented information that motivated everyone to conduct early detection of cancer, especially women, and early detection of breast cancer. Those living with cancer also spoke, where Aisha Al Tamimi and her husband Ahmed Abdulmalik shared their experiences.
