day 6th Annual International Conference on Women's Health ran from March 8 through March 23 at King Faisal Specialist Hospital (KFSH). It included a three-day medical exhibition at the Hospital followed by a two-day conference at the Jeddah InterContinental Hotel. Visitors to the exhibition received free health checks and tests including blood tests, diabetes tests and mammograms. Dr. Lina Bisar ,women's health chairperson at the health department in KFSH said “This interdisciplinary conference has been designed to benefit from all healthcare experts so as to enhance our screening, diagnoses and treatments.” One remarkable addition to the conference was a presentation entitled “Does Divorce Impact the Long Term Health of a Woman?” by Rosemary Cain-Lawrence, a nurse educator at the School of Nursing of Dar Al Hekma College-Jeddah. “This presentation is from a western perspective and focuses mainly on the experiences of a woman going through a divorce. Through a review of the literature and reflection on supporting divorced women some unanswered questions emerge,” Lawrence explained. “Are there any long-term implications for a person (especially a woman) going through divorce? How can we as women offer the required support to other divorcees?” Lawrence said. “Here in the Kingdom, individuals have to cope within non-formalized structures with the potentially disastrous effects of divorce. Our biggest concern here is the physical and emotional scars that divorce may cause and consequently the importance of a very urgent support system. “However, this support system tends to be effective only in the first few months after the breakup. Thereafter the individual has to depend on her own coping mechanisms. The real effects of divorce will manifest themselves in various problems during this period,” Lawrence explained. “As long as there are a limited number of scientific studies addressing the long term consequences of divorce, my presentation here is designed to increase the public awareness of the importance of long-term support for the divorcee,” Lawrence concluded. Another key topic, an update on breast cancer screening guidelines, was presented by Dr. Dorria Salem, the head of women's imaging unit at Cairo University. Dr. Dorria noted that the international breast cancer screening guidelines have provided criteria for successful screening, allowing an update of the most recent data and recommendations for early breast cancer detection. “Egypt's Ministry of Health and Population has identified breast cancer as a priority health area and started to improve awareness, services and outcomes,” Salem said. “Research in Egypt revealed that breast cancer represent 33% of all female cancers and 85% of sex related cancers with 10% of cases being metasticized upon presentation” Salem added. She said that early detection of breast cancer provides the best chance of effective treatment and increases the survival rate. Talking about the Egyptian experience in this field Dr. Salem said that it took them 5 years to reach all Egyptian governorates through mobile and fixed digital mammography units. “We targeted women over 40 as asymptomatic. Each woman is entitled to a screening mammogram and instruction of breast selfexamination, a blood sugar test and blood pressure test,” Dr. Salem concluded. __
