Oncology services set to undergo major upgrade in Oman

Oncology services set to undergo major upgrade in Oman

A conference focusing on breast, lung, genito-urinary tract and intestines will open in the capital on Sunday.

The National Oncology Centre at the Royal Hospital, under the patronage of the Ministry of Health and in collaboration with Oman Cancer Association, will be holding the 6th Muscat International Oncology Conference and 3rd Oman Cancer Association Conference.

Dr Bassim Al Bahrani, director of National Oncology Centre and chairman of the organising committee said that the two-day event, which is held annually, is one of the biggest educational events in the Gulf related to cancer diagnosis and treatment, and attracts more than 200 delegates.

This year's conference is of special significance as the National Oncology Centre is celebrating the tenth year of its existence. The NOC has now evolved into a comprehensive centre with state-of-the-art departments for radiation oncology, nuclear medicine, paediatric oncology and medical oncology. The centre has been granted accreditation by international organisations such as International Union against Cancer (UICC) and European Society of Medical Oncology (ESMO) in the year 2013-14.

The National Oncology Centre has very many 'firsts' to its credit. It was the first among the GCC countries to set up stereotactic radio surgery and IMRT at the Royal Hospital, Muscat. It was also the first to provide targeted therapy. From the early years, multidisciplinary clinics in gynae oncology, ENT and breast cancer were started.

The centre has also been running combined clinics in many places including at Sultan Qaboos Hospital at Salalah. The centre has also initiated the development of satellite centres to provide chemotherapy services from 1996.

Dr Bassim further reiterated that various steps to provide comprehensive service in early diagnosis and palliative care at a national level are under way. A national policy for full fledged palliative care services in the Sultanate has been formulated and will be implemented in the very near future. The radiation oncology services will undergo a major upgrade with the introduction of more modern radiotherapy equipment to provide state of art treatment.

A Proton Beam Therapy facility will be set up in Muscat soon. It will be the first of its kind in the Gulf region.

The two-day conference is being inaugurated by Dr Sultan Yarub Busaidy, adviser for health affairs at the Ministry of Health. Speakers from five countries including Sweden, UAE and India and more than 200 delegates from in and around Oman will participate.

A trade exhibition featuring the latest advances in field of oncology is part of the conference. There is an exclusive workshop on palliative care by Pallium India which is a WHO-recognised centre of excellence for palliative care and pain relief.