Taifi, Director General of the Directorate of Health Affairs in Madina Region, has reaffirmed that a 500-bed oncology center inside the Specialist Hospital in Madina will be built in two years. Reports have showed that the number of people in the area suffering from cancer is increasing, which necessitated the construction of the center. A number of cancer patients in Madina have filmed a documentary, which will be submitted to a number of ministries, showing the increase in number of people suffering from the malignant disease. The film shows a number of oncologists in Madina who admit that there is a drastic shortage of therapeutic and diagnostic facilities and stress the need for an oncology center in Madina. The specialists said a center will help increase the rate of recovery and noted that most cancer patients in the area are referred to specialist centers in Riyadh and Jeddah. Those trips increase hardships for cancer patients and the high cost of travel, housing and transportation has forced several of them to give up the treatment and surrender to their fate, the doctors said in the documentary film. The documentary also shows several children, suffering from different kinds of cancers, earnestly urging authorities to respond to their request for an independent oncology center in Madina. The film's producers called for establishing oncology centers at the National Guard Hospital, Madina Specialist Hospital and Education Hospital in Taiba University. An official report showed that on an annual basis, cancer kills 585 people out of 650 who are diagnosed with the disease in Madina. The report, which was submitted to the Emir's office in Madina, showed that the number of cancer deaths in the past seven years had reached 4,150, and that 1,400 young men and women and 600 children with cancer are being treated in the city's outpatient clinics and hospitals. Limited services are provided to cancer patients in the region and there is a lack of research that could help determine what causes cancer cases, according to the report. The report also stressed the importance of follow-up care for cancer patients and the need for treatment such as chemotherapy and radiotherapy. An integrated oncology center, which will cost SR150 million, should be built in Madina to reduce the suffering of patients who seek treatment outside the region, according to the report, which also stressed the importance of encouraging the private sector to build oncology centers in the region to reduce pressure on government hospitals.
