King Abdulaziz Center for Oncology in Jeddah plans for the first time in the Kingdom to set up a medical unit which will treat children with cancer and provide them with follow up medical and psychological care, according to the hospital's general supervisor, Dr. Muhammad Abdulkarim Bakhsh. “We plan to provide support to child cancer patients, especially those who suffer from psychological side effects as a result of the disease,” he said. “Statistics show that more than 10,000 children and young men and women are treated for cancer each year,” he added. According to Bakhsh, the symptoms of cancer in children include high body temperature and pain in the bones, but most families ignore these signs which delays the diagnosis of the disease. “In order to increase the public's awareness of cancer among children, we plan to hold an entertainment program on Sunday in which various issues relating to child cancer will be discussed,” Bakhsh said. “The program aims to inform people about the different treatments available to help patients overcome the side effects of the disease, and to encourage healthy habits to reduce complications as a result of chemotherapy and radiotherapy,” he added. “In addition we want people to be aware of the latest results in the treatment of childhood cancer, and the fact that there is a very high cure rate of over 80 percent for most types of tumors,” he said. Dr. Hasna Al-Ghamdi spoke to Saudi Gazette about the new medical unit, which will be the first of its kind in the Kingdom. “We are now in the process of establishing a unit for the care of child cancer patients and for offering them follow-up post-treatment support for any psychological disorders that may result from the cancer treatment they receive,” she said. She added, “We hope to be able to discover such disorders early and treat them effectively so that the children will be able to easily and naturally return to society after overcoming the disease.
