Cancer Fight in Middle East Focuses on Tobacco,

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 AMMAN 002912

SIPDIS

STATE PASS USAID

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: TBIO XF IS JO
SUBJECT: Cancer Fight in Middle East Focuses on Tobacco,
Awareness

Reftel: Amman 2394


1. Summary: The six members of the Middle East Cancer
Consortium (MECC) met the CEO of the American Cancer Society
in Amman on March 26 for a review of MECC's work and a
discussion of the disease itself which focused on tobacco
control and early detection. MECC, funded at roughly
600,000 dollars per year by the U.S. National Cancer
Institute, is a good example of successful Arab-Israeli
cooperation. End summary.

Moving From Statistics to Prevention
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2. MECC is readying itself for an expansion of its mission
by moving towards prevention and control. Founded in 1996
by President Clinton in response to a request by his cancer-
stricken mother, MECC's original goals focused on
establishing cancer "registries," and on training and
education. A cancer registry is a detailed logbook on
cancer cases. Each MECC member must publish an annual
report on cancer. MECC is now preparing to take the next
step of analyzing that information to pinpoint the etiology
of the disease to direct prevention and treatment programs.
Palliative care and oncology nursing are emerging as focus
areas of MECC for upcoming training programs. Palliative
care is given in the last stage of the patient's life when
there is no chance of a cure and when quality of life issues
move to the forefront.

MECC Members Meet CEO of American Cancer Society
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3. All six members of MECC sent representatives to a
special meeting in Amman on March 26 to meet Dr. John
Seffrin, CEO of the American Cancer Society. Israel, Egypt,
the Palestinian Authority, Jordan and Cyprus were the five
founding members of MECC in 1996. Turkey joined later. The
U.S. National Cancer Institute, one of the U.S. National
Institutes of Health, provides modest cash support, on the
order of $600,000 per year, to MECC. Members provide in-
kind contributions such as staff, office space and vehicles.

Young Populations Keep Cancer Rates Low For Now
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4. Cancer rates for most MECC members are one-third those
in the United States, deceptively low because of the young
demographics. Forty-six percent of Turks, forty percent of
Egyptians and an astounding sixty-one percent of
Palestinians are under age 20. Jordan has 60 percent of its
population under age 24. This youthful population disguises
the health crisis that will emerge in twenty or thirty years
when today's adolescents and young adults enter their
fifties and sixties. This is when cancer incidence starts
to rise dramatically. This delayed epidemic is being
exacerbated by the high levels of smoking in the MECC
countries. For example, fifty-five percent of Jordanian
males above age 15 are smokers, an ominous statistic for
cancer morbidity in 2035.

Tobacco May Kill One Billion People this Century
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5. Dr. John Seffrin, CEO of the American Cancer Society,
said that cancer is increasingly a preventable and treatable
disease. Cancer prevention is focused on removing risk
factors. Since smoking is a predominant cause of lung
cancer, Dr. Seffrin said he is heartened by progress around
the world on tobacco control, a major tool for fighting
cancer. Making tobacco hard to buy, unfashionable, and hard
to smoke (through legal restrictions) will save millions of
lives, he said. Without intervention, tobacco will kill a
billion people this century, he said.

Early Detection Needed to Raise Cure Rates
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6. An important aspect of the American experience that has
led to lower cancer morbidity is emphasizing early
detection. Unfortunately, this is an area where the members
of MECC face a major challenge. At the Amman meeting, MECC
national members described a cultural milieu where the
initial contact of a cancer patient with a healthcare
provider was often at a late stage of the disease. This
situation can lead to a vicious cycle where seeing a doctor
is seen as tantamount to a death sentence, thus encouraging
further delays in seeing healthcare providers. Dr. Seffrin
and Dr. Harmon Eyre from the American Cancer Society urged
MECC to find and publicize success stories in cancer, where
early detection has led to successful treatment and longer
life.


7. Comment: Cancer is only partially a medical issue. Much
of the American success in reducing cancer rates has hinged
on non-medical factors such as anti-smoking laws and public
education campaigns. Lung cancer rates in the United States
are declining at 2 percent a year. These rates will go
through the roof in MECC countries in twenty years. MECC
members will have to adopt these tools, and immediately, in
order to stave off a preventable epidemic. Jordan's
national representative highlighted the important
contribution of USAID/Jordan in early cancer detection
campaigns. MECC itself, with its cadre of true believers,
will be an important instrument in that campaign.

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