Breast cancer survivors in Dubai have opened up about how they were able to rebuild their lives after years of treatment, thanks to the emirate's public healthcare provider.
Maria Zaatar, 48, from the Philippines, and Hanan Al Razem, 44, from Jordan, both took part in the Revive and Thrive returnship programme by the Al Jalila Foundation, the philanthropic arm of Dubai Health.
The project offers support to cancer survivors by providing training, mentoring and six-month placements in the workplace. A central part of the programme is rebuilding their confidence.
“I truly enjoyed working in a dynamic, fast-paced company. The diagnosis completely changed my life,” said Ms Zaatar, who is the mother of a nine-year-old girl. She was working in a firm in the aviation sector for several years before being diagnosed with breast cancer in 2022.
Her treatment, which lasted two years, involved multiple therapies, including breast surgery, 16 rounds of chemotherapy, 25 days of radiotherapy and 18 sessions of immunotherapy.
“Each brought its own set of challenges. Recovery was not just physical, it was emotional and mental,” said Ms Zaatar, who has lived in Dubai for 26 years.
“The toughest moments were the times when I felt completely exhausted, both from the treatments and the uncertainty about the future. There were days of fear, pain and moments when I questioned whether I could get through it.”
With support from her family, friends, and medical team, she learnt to take one day at a time. “Each step of recovery taught me resilience, patience, and the importance of self-care. Today, survivorship means not just having beaten cancer, but learning to embrace life fully, with gratitude and strength I did not know I had,” she said.
The programme has supported Ms Zaatar not just in finding employment as a membership support co-ordinator with AmCham Dubai, also known as the American Business Council in Dubai, but in rebuilding her confidence and belief in herself again.
“I feel truly blessed for all the guidance, encouragement, and opportunities they have given me,” she said. “I’m forever grateful to the programme as it has made such a meaningful difference in my life and my career.”
New beginnings
Ms Al Razem's diagnosis with stage two breast cancer in 2023 forced her to leave her work in finance and administration. “Before cancer, I had a thriving career, a loving family and dreams for the future. I never imagined life could change so suddenly,” she said.
Her treatment included surgery, chemotherapy and radiation. Later she had surgery to remove her uterus and ovaries as a preventive measure. She had to step away from her career during treatment to focus on healing.
“I felt like I had lost my womanhood, my softness, my identity. I would look in the mirror and not recognise the person staring back. It was like watching myself disappear,” she said. She said the support through the programme reminded her that she wasn’t alone.
“When I know I was cancer-free, I cried from relief, from gratitude, from disbelief. It felt like I had been given a blank page to start over and write a new story to rebuild my life,” she said. “The programme didn’t just help me professionally. They helped me emotionally. I lost myself, but I found my strength again.”
After chemotherapy and radiation, the internship brought her back to life and opened the door to new possibilities. The programme helped her find work at GE Aerospace in Dubai as executive assistant to the head of customer experience.
“My role allows me to combine my organisational, administrative, and leadership skills with the empathy and strength I gained through my personal journey,” she said. “Being back in a professional environment means everything to me. It’s not just about a job, it’s about reclaiming my life.”
The latest National Cancer Registry showed breast cancer remained the most common form of the disease, but just 25 per cent of at-risk women were being screened. Cancer is the fifth most common cause of death in the UAE, and is responsible for about eight per cent of deaths.
Since 2019, there has been a 60 per cent increase in cancer cases, largely due to better diagnostic screening and a growing population, but also because of lifestyle-related risk factors such as obesity and smoking.
