Oman Cancer Association celebrated its achievements with cancer survivors and organisations as well as people who contributed to the success of OCA’s initiatives under the auspices of HH Sayyida Dr Mona bint Fahd al Said, Patron of Oman Cancer Association.
Dr Waheed al Kharusi, Chairman of Oman Cancer Association, said this is a small way to let our supporters know what we have achieved.
“We want to say to the institutions thank you for their support in the last 23 years,” said Dr Waheed.
In his speech he thanked the sponsors, “Our sponsors made it possible for us to serve the community. We have also been able to spread awareness and support the patients as they go through with the treatment provided by the Ministry of Health. It was hard work but without our partners’ support we could not have done our projects. Today the word ‘cancer’ is not a death sentence as our cancer survivors prove as they live an active life,” said Dr Waheed.
While introducing OCA to the attendees, Dr Manal al Zedjali, Secretary-General of Oman Cancer Association, reflected how the journey began with Yuthar al Rawahi, OCA founder, making a promise to the nation and starting the initiative which began as a group with seven people. It then became an association and went on to establish Dar al Hanan, a home away from home for children from far away regions in Oman going through cancer treatment.
The objectives of OCA, a brainchild of Yuthar al Rawahi, four times cancer survivor, are patient support and empowerment, education and training, research, political will and fundraising.
“We are seeing the numbers increasing according to the figures from 2021 but it could be that we are detecting more cases because the awareness is high and so is screening. Breast cancer, colon cancer and thyroid are the most common but we must give equal attention to all other cancers too. Our mission is to reduce the burden of cancer nationally, regionally and globally,” pointed out Dr Manal.
The important pillars of OCA are advocacy and awareness, human resources development, education, training and research, nucleus - patient, survivors, family, community, in addition to direct activity, indirect activity as well as being ICPC centre of excellence.
Oman Cancer Association is a non-governmental, non-profit organisation. It was registered at the Ministry of Social Development in 2004.
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