Prevention, as the Dutch philosopher Erasmus declared in the 16th Century, is better than cure. Most modern-day doctors would concur, including those in the UAE health care system who will reap the benefits of greater integration of medical records. As The National reports today, this initiative will include a national cancer registry.
This is worth implementing purely on the basis that medical care should not rely on each person going to their regular hospital, where their records are on file. In the example of, say, a car accident while travelling in another emirate, a national database would enable doctors at the nearest hospital to immediately access the patient’s medical history and be aware of complicating factors like allergies and pre-existing conditions.
However it is the preventative aspects that can flow from this that are even more important. Cancer is the third most common cause of death in the UAE, after heart disease and accidents. But a corollary of the rapid modernisation of the UAE is that international research records about the incidence of cancer in the Emirates date back only to 1981. Tawam Hospital in Al Ain only gained the capacity to administer radiotherapy in 1980 and a tumour registry developed by doctors there in the mid-1980s is part of the genesis for the proposed cancer registry.
The registry offers several benefits. One is to monitor which forms of cancer are most prevalent and whether their incidence is rising or falling. Those who are most at risk can be reminded to undergo checkups, allowing the cancer to be caught early, which leads to much better chances of successful remission. One example would be women over the age of 40 being screened for breast cancer, which Tawam Hospital’s records showed was a leading form of cancer in the UAE.
With medicine becoming an increasingly specialised field, accurate statistics about the incidence of different cancers will also enable the health care system to apportion medical resources – both human and in the form of physical assets like hospital wards – where the need is greatest.
The registry can also allow the risk factors for common cancers to be addressed through education campaigns. There is a link between low-nutrition and high-fat diets in the incidence of intestinal cancers, for example. By far the best form of prevention would be for diets to improve so that the cancer will be avoided in the first place.