Marrakech, January 2012 – HRH Princess Ghida Talal, Chairperson of the Board of Trustees of the King Hussein Cancer Foundation (KHCF) headed a delegation from KHCF and the King Hussein Cancer Center (KHCC), on a visit to Morocco to sign a Partnership/Twinning agreement between KHCF/KHCC and the Hassan II University Hospital of Fez. The delegation also participated in ‘HRH Princess Lalla Salma’s International Conference on Cancer Control in the Middle East and Africa’ held from January 12th to 14th 2012 in Marrakech, Morocco.
HRH Princess Ghida Talal and Ms. Latifa Obeida, Secretary General of the Lalla Salma Association for the Fight against Cancer (ALSC), signed the twinning agreement in the presence of HRH Princess Lalla Salma. Close collaboration will be the focus of the agreement between the two hospitals, with the aim of up-scaling the level of quality care provided to patients in the region. Dr. Mahmoud Sarhan also signed the same agreement with his counterpart, Dr. Khalid Ait Taleb, Director of Hassan II University Hospital. The agreement will also include capacity building, training of staff, and sharing experiences, particularly in the area of quality assurance and hospital accreditation as Hassan II University Hospital is starting the process of gaining accreditation from the Joint Commission International (JCI) as a general hospital. KHCC is currently the only cancer center in the developing world to have earned JCI’s accreditation as a disease-specific cancer center.
While in Morocco, the delegation attended a conference organized by ALSC which was held under the theme "Which Strategy for Cervical Cancer Prevention and Which Strategy for Cooperation and Access to Cancer Care”, and focused on two main topics: the prevention of cervical cancer and the cooperation and access to cancer care.
During the conference, HRH Princess Ghida Talal delivered the inaugural speech focusing on experience in cooperation and access to care in the Middle East Region. HRH Princess Ghida said: “Our countries are struggling with the same challenges: lack of accessibility to services, poor infrastructure, scattered human resources and no insurance for cancer treatment.” HRH also added “It is only through shared experiences and working together that we can save time, effort and expense. Why reinvent the wheel and waste precious lives? Our similar cultures and language mean that the problem one country is facing might help another one find the solution it is looking for. Working closely together is the only way to make a real dent in the future of cancer in our region.”