DUBAI, United Arab Emirates- Tinatayang nasa 1,100 bagong cancer cases ang natutukoy sa mga Pilipino sa UAE kada taon, base sa isang espesyalista na nasa bansa sa nakalipas na 10 taon.
“This figure is in general; all types of cancer,” pahayag ni Dr. Mohanad Diab, medical oncology consultant.
Sa bilang na ito, tinatayang 250 ang bagong breast cancer cases na nada-diagnose kada taon, sabi ni Dr. Diab, idinagdag na mayorya sa mga ito ay naitatala sa Dubai, sinundan ng Abu Dhabi.
Inihayag ni Dr. Diab na ang karaniwang uri ng cancer na naitatala sa mga Pilipino sa UAE ay breast cancer, sinundan ng cervical cancer, colon at lung cancer.
“These are the most widespread cancer types among Filipinos,” anang espesyalista.
“Three to four years ago during the COVID pandemic, we got more metastatic disease than local disease. But now, we have started to see more local disease. It means, we have more early-stage cancer than late-stage ones,” paliwanag ng oncologist.
Hinggil naman sa paggagamot, sinabi ni Dr. Diab na ang cancer patients ay “treated usually with surgery.”
“For some, we give chemotherapy. Sometimes we give hormone therapy. It depends on the cancer diagnosis,” pahayag niya, idinagdag na ang breast cancer ay karaniwang binibigyan ng hormone therapy na humaharang sa hormones tulad ng estrogen at pumipigil sa pagkalat ng cancer.
“We have immunotherapy (which uses medication to boost a person’s immune system to kill cancer cells). We also have targeted therapy (which uses medicines directed at proteins on breast cancer cells that help them grow), a lot of new medications that have improved the overall survival (of cancer patients) and have become much better than before,” wika ni Dr. Diab.
Dahil umano rito, hindi na kinakailangang umuwi ng Filipino cancer patients sa Pilipinas. “In the past, we knew several cases, who were forced to go back to their home country. But nowadays it’s not happening,” wika niya.
Mayroong support programs ang UAE para sa mga pasyenteng hindi kaya ang gastos sa pagpapagamot sa nasabing sakit. “We have charitable institutions that are very helpful to expats, too,” aniya.
Mayroong halos isang milyong Pilipino sa UAE, kalahati sa bilang na ito ang nasa Dubai, base sa Philippine embassy sa bansa. RNT/SA
