Doha: The Qatar National Cancer Registry of the National Cancer Program at the Ministry of Public Health (MoPH) has released recent data on cancer incidence rates in Qatar.
A total of 1,960 new cancer cases were diagnosed during 2018. Cases were distributed by 20% among Qataris, 80% among residents, 46% among females and 54% among males.
The most common cancer among all nationalities was breast cancer, accounting for 16.58% of all cancer cases, followed by colorectal cancer at 9.44%.
Thyroid cancer was the third most common cancer, at 6.33% of all cancer cases.
Among females of all nationalities, breast cancer was the most common, accounting for 39.15% of all female cancer cases, followed by thyroid cancer. While in males, colorectal cancer was the most common, accounting for 10.93% of all male cancer cases, followed by prostate cancer, at 9.52%.
As for children aged 0-14 years old, of all nationalities, 46 new cases of cancer were diagnosed during 2018, and the distribution was 33% among Qataris, 67% among residents, and 63% among females compared to 37% among males. Leukemia was the most common cancer, accounting for 32.61% of all childhood cancers, followed by brain cancer, which accounted for 13.04% of all cancer case of children.
With regards to survival rates, it was found to be one of the highest compared to other countries, reaching 88% for breast cancer in women and nearly 82% for colorectal cancer.
Dr. Muhammad bin Hamad Al Thani, Vice-President of the National Cancer Committee at the Ministry of Public Health, stated that the Qatar National Cancer Registry represents an excellent model for effective partnership and continuous cooperation between all institutions working in the field of cancer, most notably the Hamad Medical Corporation, the Primary Health Care Corporation, Sidra Medicine, and the Qatar Cancer Society. He also stated that the Qatar National Cancer Registry is an important achievement and a vital source of information for policymakers and researchers who should benefit from this data and support its continuous development.
Dr. Al Hareth Muhammad Al Khater, Chair of the Cancer Information Governance Board [CIGB] at the Ministry of Public Health, indicated that the data collected from all health service providers for cancer patients go under several procedures to ensure their quality and suitability for use in scientific research, decision-making, and the development and monitoring of national health programs.
Within this context, Amid Abu Hmaidan, Manager of the Qatar National Cancer Registry, stated that the State of Qatar has a national cancer screening program for breast and bowel cancers, through which women of the age group 45-69 are examined periodically to ensure that they are free from breast cancer, as well as the case for people from Age group 50-74 to examine and ensure that they are free from bowel cancer.
