Abu Dhabi: Despite the increasing awareness of cancer prevention and greater efforts for cancer control in the UAE, terminally ill cancer patients often do not receive comfort care that would help improve their quality of life, leading medical professionals said in the capital on Thursday.

To achieve the best cancer treatment results, this kind of care, known as palliative care, could even be provided as soon as the patient is diagnosed with cancer, they added.

While the Tawam Hospital in Al Ain has had a palliative care unit since 2007, a great need exists for more such units across the country, said Dr Zafar Javed, palliative medicine consultant at the hospital.

“Many Emirati cancer patients who seek treatment abroad return to the UAE if the disease cannot be cured. At this stage, they are usually very distressed, and palliative care professionals are best qualified to help them deal with any pain, and improve their quality of life. In addition, most expatriate patients in the country also lack social support systems, and this makes it harder for them to deal with cancer, thus increasing the need for palliative care,” Dr Javed explained.

Tawam’s palliative care unit currently accommodates about 10-14 inpatients, and sees about 30 outpatients a month.

“At present, we mainly help cancer patients, who come from all over the UAE. But palliative care professionals can comfort patients suffering from all kinds of terminal illnesses. This could be achieved if there was at least one palliative care unit in every emirate,” Dr Javed said.

He was speaking on the sidelines of the three-day Emirates Oncology Conference in Abu Dhabi, which saw health professionals discuss a variety of issues related to cancer diagnosis, care and control.

Doctors at the conference also stressed on the importance of providing palliative care soon after a patient is diagnosed with cancer. Currently, most patients are only referred in the later stages when all cancer treatment options have failed, said Debbie Strode, clinical resource nurse in oncology and palliative care at Tawam Hospital.

“However, comfort care is not just for the dying. Patients and their families could need comfort care even before a mammogram to deal with any possible distress. Unfortunately, many physicians are not aware of the need for palliative services, and patients themselves do not know that dealing with cancer and cancer pain can be made easier,” she told Gulf News.

Nearly 20 per cent to 50 per cent of cancer-affected patients worldwide are known to suffer from depression or anxiety. Along with their families, they also harbour fears of death, disability and disfigurement, said Dr Essam Emam, head of the psychiatry department at Tawam Hospital.

“This is why comfort care, which also includes psychosocial therapy, is essential,” he said.

Across the Middle East, palliative care services are also severely lacking at present.

“Many governments do not yet realise that palliative care is an integral part of cancer control,” said Dr Michael Silbermann, executive director of the Middle East Cancer Consortium that organises research to reduce the incidence of cancer in the region.