Vice President Dr Mohamed Waheed this morning inaugurated Principles of Oncology Conference jointly organized by Male’ Health Service Corporation (MHSC) and Saudi Cancer Foundation (SCF). The conference is being facilitated by the SCF mission currently visiting the Maldives.
Speaking to inaugurate the two day conference at Indira Gandhi Memorial Hospital, Vice President Dr Waheed noted that cancer was a growing problem in the maldives and the local health facilities were not adequately equipped to address the continuously increasing incidences of cancer patients.
As a result, he said, many of the patients were seeking treatment abroad at an enormous expense for themselves as well as the government.
Expressing the hope of strengthening local capacity to address the increasing need for cancer diagnosis and treatment, the Vice President outlined the immediate steps that should be taken to deal with the matter. He pointed out educating the public on causes and symptoms to help early diagnosis and establishing and maintaining a proper registry of cancer patients in the Maldives as necessary first steps to begin addressing the problem.
The Vice President also thanked the government and Saudi Arabia and SCF for their mission to the Maldives. He said their visit was a clear indication of friendship and closeness between the peoples of the Maldives and Saudi Arabia.
In addition to Principles of Oncology Conference held today and Breast Cancer Symposium and Workshop to be held tomorrow, the SCF team also held patient consultations at IGMH during their visit.
