In line with the King Hussein Cancer Foundation (KHCF) and the King Hussein Cancer Center’s (KHCC) mission to spread cancer awareness, prevention and control, HRH Princess Ghida Talal, Chairperson of the Board of Trustees, was invited, as guests of honor, to participate in the 5th Congress of the Asian Pacific Organization for Cancer Prevention and the 8th meeting of the Mediterranean Task Force for Cancer Control (MTCC), both held in Istanbul, Turkey beginning 3 April 2010. While there, Princess Ghida and Princess Dina visited the Maslak Acibadem hospital and conducted two press conferences.
Princess Ghida Talal presented the keynote opening speech for the 5th Congress of the Asian Pacific Organization for Cancer Prevention under the title of ‘Prevention of cancer: Time to move from fiction to action’. During her speech, she presented the efforts of the King Hussein Cancer Foundation and Center in spreading cancer treatment, prevention and control in Jordan, emphasizing that KHCC is one of the best cancer care centers in the region, training doctors and spreading awareness, early detection and prevention to the general public.
Princess Ghida also underlined that cancer is a disease that knows no borders, race or nationality. Based on the increasing rates of cancer worldwide and especially in the developing world, Princess Ghida called for action, stating that a national comprehensive plan for cancer is needed to guide and lead committees on early detection, highlighting that 40% of all cancers can be prevented.
At the press conferences, Princess Ghida indicated that KHCC has achieved internationally recognized quality of care and mentioned the awards that the Center has earned. Princess Ghida also mentioned the efforts of KHCC and the Jordan Breast Cancer Program, led by the Foundation and Center, to promote early detection in Jordan. She warned that with the increasing number of cancer cases in the world, there will be approximately 16.8 million annual new cancer cases by the year 2020, 75% of which will be in the developing world. Princess Ghida underlined the importance of the international community in coming together to provide assistance and support for developing countries to handle this growing cancer burden.
After the 8th meeting of the MTCC and the tour of Maslak Acibadem hospital TRH Princess Ghida discussed the many similarities between the hospital and the King Hussein Cancer Center, such as providing cancer insurance to the public, and highlighted the importance of collaboration between these institutions to share experience, information, scientific visits and medical training. Princess Ghida also said she looks forward to the day when we can look back and realize that cancer has truly become a disease of the past.