Yet. Another Cancer Centre. My Thoughts

It is always good news to hear about yet another "State of the Art" cancer center. However, few thoughts to keep in mind; the incidence and prevalence of cancer in the Arab Gulf States doesn't necessitate a large number of these centers. Equal if not more funding should be directed towards cancer screening, prevention, research and public education. Schools of Public Health are non-existent in the Middle East. Such schools aim to graduate epidemiologists, statisticians, researchers and public health workers who will have a bigger impact on cancer and other chronic diseases than all cancer centers combined. The caveat of such schools, is they are not money generating. However, their graduates and their research will save millions of lives and billions of Dollars.

During my visit to Dubai Healthcare City, I saw a mushroom cloud of clinics, polyclinics, centers and hospitals affiliated to Cleveland, Mayo, Harvard and so on. What was disappointingly missing is a Public Health School whose goals and aims are to study non-communicable diseases such as diabetes, heart disease, obesity and cancer. These schools with adequate funding and staff will improve quality of life of the population in geneal, the well and the sick. I suggested that a lot of land be dedicated to such a school. That, the WHO/IARC be inivited to start a science tower dictated to humanity.