Doha: Primary Health Care Corporation (PHCC) has urged people between 50 and 74 years of age to benefit from bowel cancer early detection services available in a number of its health centers.
PHCC provides the service through comfortable private clinics characterised by complete privacy in the following centers: Leabaib, Al Wakra, Rawdat Al Khail and Muaither health centers, in addition to a mobile unit for early detection, for which an appointment can be booked for the examination by calling at 8001112.
PHCC’s call comes in conjunction with the International Bowel Cancer Awareness Month in March of every year, a global initiative that aims to urge members of society not to postpone early detection of bowel cancer as a precautionary measure to overcome it and its complications, since this disease may come with no obvious symptoms appearing.
PHCC stated that studies on the prevalence of bowel cancer in the State of Qatar suggest that this cancer tops cancer diseases among males, followed by prostate cancer, leukemia or lung cancer. In women, breast cancer is the most prevalent form of cancer, followed by bowel cancer and then thyroid cancer.
It said the cure rate for bowel cancer is as high as 90 percent, if it is detected at an early stage. Therefore, early examination is so important for its role in saving lives and creating better chances to prevent and recover from the disease. PHCC urged people between the age of 50 and 74 years to pursue a preventive approach for their health through making an appointment for medical screening in one of the health centers, noting that screening for bowel cancer is simple, but it is important that it be done routinely every two years, as doctors recommend, because detecting the disease in its early stages reduces the chance that the patient will need chemotherapy.
PHCC recommended pursuing a preventive approach such as eating vegetables, seeds, nuts, oats, chickpeas and bran grains, while maintaining regular physical activity to reduce excess body fat and the risks associated with cancer.
Doctors recommend the need to keep away from diets rich in red and processed meat that have been converted through salting, processing, fermentation, smoking, or other operations, and not to eat fast food permanently because it contains saturated fat, and to stay away from consuming soft drinks, as well as unsaturated fatty acids which are made by adding hydrogen to vegetable oil (hydrogenated oil).
To mark World Bowel Cancer Awareness Month, PHCC is organising a number of events throughout this month, as part of a campaign to raise awareness of bowel cancer under the slogan “Beat it before it beats you”, in order to urge the public to detect this disease early.
The bowel cancer early detection programme is implemented within the framework of the Qatar National Cancer Program, which is in line with the National Health Strategy, which aims to reduce the burden of cancer in the country, while ensuring the provision of the best cancer services in the world when needed to facilitate the process of improving cancer-related outcomes.
