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Review
. 2022 Nov 23;12(6):955-985.
doi: 10.3390/clinpract12060101.

The State of Cancer Care in the United Arab Emirates in 2022

Humaid O Al-Shamsi  1   2   3   4
Affiliations
Review

The State of Cancer Care in the United Arab Emirates in 2022

Humaid O Al-Shamsi. Clin Pract. .

Abstract

Cancer is the third-leading cause of death in the United Arab Emirates (UAE); cancer care in the UAE has evolved dramatically over the last 40 years, from a single center in Al Ain in 1981 to more than 30 cancer centers and clinics across the UAE, with at least four comprehensive cancer centers in the UAE nowadays. Despite the significant progress in medical care, cancer quality control across the UAE is still lacking, with significant variations in cancer care across the cancer centers. Access to clinical trials is still hampered by a lack of expertise and research infrastructure and a small population, which renders patient accrual for trials a major challenge. Education and training are other areas for improvement that require immediate attention, and, in this review, we try to address these critical aspects for stakeholders to consider better cancer care in the UAE. Early cancer detection and screening are still evolving in the UAE, and a national screening program is lacking. There is also a need to address barriers to screening and to consider less invasive screening methods such as approved blood-based screening, which is likely to be more acceptable to the UAE population. In this review, we also address new topics that have not been addressed previously, including oncology medical tourism, psycho-oncology, onco-fertility, precision oncology, survivorship, oncology nursing, cancer support programs, and the oncology sector's response to the COVID-19 pandemic, all in the context of the UAE cancer landscape. Finally, we provide recommendations for policymakers, regulators, payers, patient advocacy groups, and the UAE oncology community regarding the delivery and future planning of high-quality cancer care. These recommendations are aligned with the UAE government's vision to reduce cancer mortality and provide high-quality healthcare for its citizens and residents.

Keywords: COVID-19; United Arab Emirates; cancer; incidence; medical tourism; onco-fertility; palliative care; psycho-fertility; screening; survivorship.

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Conflict of interest statement

Research support from Merck, Amgen, Roche, AstraZeneca, consulting: Astellas, Merck, Amgen, Roche, AstraZeneca, Ipsen.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
UAE oncology landscape timeline as of November 2022.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Cancer research output in the UAE by the type of the publication over the 20-year period from 2001 to 2021.
Figure 3
Figure 3
The ranking of cancer centers based on their cancer research output in 2021.
Figure 4
Figure 4
Major recommendations for the advancement of cancer care in the UAE.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

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