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Cancer in Saudi Arabia
Introduction Final
Abdul Aziz M. Hazazi
Cancer in Saudi Arabia
Introduction Final
Student Name: Abdul-Aziz M. Hazazi
PMU # 201100122
Section# 101
12/1/2012
Cancer is a set of diseases that may affect different parts of the body. It affects the
cells and is not a transmissible disease. Greeks was the original innovator for this word and
they were the first one called this disease by cancer because of a similarity in fast,
progressive movement between the crab and cancer. All the human bodies consist of lots of
cells. Inside regular body’s cells grow, divide, and die in a well-ordered way during their
lifetime. Some of these cells in the body could grow out of control and this is because of an
exterior or inner effects on the genetic constitution of a cell, when we get a collection of
these cells together, after that we will get a form that is called a tumor.
Furthermore, the internet report presented by the Saudi Cancer Registry (2007)
shows that “It is clear from the report that the number and the incidence of cancer in Saudi
Arabia is on the rise”. Also, when take a look into this disease deeply we will find the
estimated number of cancer is 12,662,554 people in the worldwide. Of these, 56.1% were in
developing countries and 43.9% were in developed countries. There are many types of
Cancer that affect people in Saudi Arabia in particular; the most common cancer among
Saudi (all ages) is Breast Cancer and it ranked first, the total number of adult cancer
incidence cases reported was 11,437. Overall cancer was slightly more in females than in
males.
The Saudi Arabian Health System mainly is a public service, in which cancer care is
provided free of charge by the Ministry of Health (MOH) by many hospitals such as King
Faisal Specialist Hospital and Research Centre (KFSH&RC), and the university, armed forces
and national guard hospitals.
There has been a continuous and noticeable rise in the number of cancer cases in the
kingdom; however, this rise has not been in line with development in the medical services
provided to the patients and their families by the hospitals. One of the essential concerns
about cancer in Saudi Arabia is Breast Cancer which accounts for around 30% of all cancers
identified worldwide and it is the fifth leading cause of all cancer deaths. In Saudi Arabia in
particular “Breast cancer represents the highest incidence among Saudi females, accounting
for 21.1% of all newly diagnosed female cancers”. (Dalal M. Al-Tamimi, MD et al., 2009).
Another major Issue among patients with cancer in Saudi Arabia is failure to attend medical
appointments and loss to follow-up. These are obvious issues and can affect their treatment
and final result as well as can affect the allocation of healthcare. These conditions can be
divided into two parts first one is due to hospital-based communication problems, and other
one is due to errors in patient communication with the hospital
Furthermore, the total number of cancer incident cases reported by Saudi Cancer
Registry was 12,309. It is very important to say that the main regions such as Riyadh,
Makkah and Eastern Province represent the most numbers of cases. This can be predicated
to the increasing number of people living/seeking medical care in these developed cities with
modern hospital facilities.
If there is lack of knowledge, attention about cancer as well as follow up is not being
properly treated and there is no development in the medical services offered to the patients
and their families by the Ministry of Health hospitals in Saudi Arabia, then this will lead to a
continuous and noticeable rise in the number of cancer cases between (Women/Young) in
Saudi Arabia.