By Abdellatif Sharaa

KUWAIT: Internal Medicine Consultant and Oncologist at Kuwait Center for Cancer Control Dr Anwar Munawer reiterated the importance of adopting a healthy lifestyle and warned of the risks of obesity to public health. He added that for cancer patients, the chemotherapy dose is calculated according to body mass.

Dr Munawer spoke during a breast cancer awareness event at Gulf University for Science and Technology (GUST) on the occasion of the pink month of October. He said 37 percent of patients who suffer from obesity are given reduced doses due to the side effects that accompany chemotherapy. He said that smoking must be avoided as it is responsible for more than 20 percent of deaths around the world. Furthermore, he said Kuwait is among countries that provide mammogram tests for women over 40 years who register in the National Program for Early Detection of Breast Diseases in Kuwait.

He said as the new percentages of cancer cases in higher income countries are resulting from excess weight, noting that 15 percent of breast cancer are due to obesity. He said obesity rates round the world indicate that the US and the Gulf region have the highest rates, while Asia and middle Africa have the lowest rates. He said obesity rate in women in Kuwait is 43.5 percent which is among the highest in the world.

Meanwhile, Cancer Aware Nation Board Member and Head of the Breast Cancer Initiative Dr Hussa Majid Al-Shaheen emphasized the importance of early detection as it increases recovery chances and reduces the time spent in hospitals, while the response to treatment will be high. She said CAN carries out various campaigns including training teachers and students of self-examination, besides encouraging women above 40 to go for mammogram as the centers providing the test are Sheikhan Al-Farsi, Shareefa Al-Awadhi, South Kheitan, Naeem, Zahraa, and Aqaila.