In common with many other countries, cancer is one of the UAE's main public health challenges, together with heart disease and road deaths. Prostate cancer in particular - which affects one in six men, according to the Prostate Cancer Foundation - is the third most common cancer worldwide and is the sixth leading cause of cancer mortality in men, often affecting those over 50 years old.
Although there is no data to show how many men have the disease in this country, Dr Waleed Hassen, the chief of urology at Tawam Hospital, told The National that it represents a "significant number of morbidity and mortality in the country".
Yet, as this newspaper reported yesterday, many men are either unaware of the risks or are reluctant to seek medical advice.
Doctors have underlined possible reasons for such reluctance: some men find it embarrassing to talk about what is still something of a taboo subject. Some will make the effort to see a general practitioner when they have symptoms, but too few follow up with a urologist. Yet others believe that cancer inevitably leads to death, so they would rather not know.
This misconception is particularly sad because the main objective of screening is to identify the disease early, which in many cases means that treatment can open the way to a full recovery and a long healthy life.
However, one of the major obstacles to tackling the disease, as Dr Abou Allaban pointed out, is that "culturally, here, it does not cross people's minds to prevent illnesses and to spend money to prevent illnesses."
Prevention is key in the fight against not only prostate cancer, but many other illnesses such as breast cancer, cardiovascular diseases and diabetes.
As well as routine testing for prostate cancer, there is also a need to fully ensure that screening for such diseases is covered by all insurance plans, both for nationals and expatriates. Many plans already cover this, but this must be universal.
Intensive awareness campaigns and specialised centres for screening would help to reduce fear, fight stigma and save lives.
