The Third International Breast Cancer Conference kicked off in Kuwait officially yesterday, with activities taking place between March 30-April 1, 2011 , with focus on practical rather than theoretical approach to improving care for cancer patients.

The organizer of the event Dr Medhat Oteifa, head of the surgery department at Kuwait's Makki Jumaa cancer care center, told KUNA this type of spotlight is the conference's specific importance. A workshop had accordingly been held for the participants before the actual meetings where surgical intervention specialists took part and performed eight surgeries.

At the end of the conference, another workshop would be held for young doctors in this field to improve their abilities to provide higher quality care for their future patients. The results of the first workshop were "excellent" compared to standards of surgeries to remove the breast and enhance appearance after such surgeries in the past, Oteifa pointed out. The conferences and workshops have the added value of increasing public awareness and encouraging regular checkups to guarantee early detection of cancers, he noted.

Meanwhile a two-day conference sees the participation of 22 visiting experts and specialists from leading cancer care centers in France, Germany, Italy, Scandinavia, and Egypt. Upon inauguration of the event, Assistant Health Undersecretary for Technical Affairs Khalid Al-Sahlawi said that it is vital to increase attention to developing expertise and quality of care provided to patients to keep abreast of the increase in number of patients worldwide. Encouraging research and holding conferences and workshops to exchange expertise and awareness of new research findings is of great value to care givers, he also stressed.

Meanwhile, The National Campaign for Cancer Awareness (CAN) organized a workshop on Thursday in cooperation with the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia on the theme of "Palliative Care", discussing operating systems and protocols as well as the laws and ethics relating to the field, and there is a training course on the sidelines for the participating physicians.

Campaign vice chairman Dr. Khalid Al-Saleh told KUNA the CAN team made progress towards implementing the international and Arab cooperation program. An MOU was signed with the Arab Medical Association Against Cancer (AMAAC) represented by its Secretary General Sami Khatib of Jordan, which means CAN is an active association member as of now.

Al-Saleh added organizers of the campaign also met with the head of the Yemeni national campaign on cancer Al-Haj Abdelwase Said to draft guidelines for cooperation on cancer awareness. The above mentioned workshop was organized to follow up on and build upon these developments in cooperation with the King Faisal Cancer Center Chairman at King Faisal Specialist Hospital and Research Center Dr. Mohammad Al-Shahri.

Attending the workshop, held at CAN headquarters, started this morning to last till 5 in the afternoon, is hoped to give the Kuwaiti doctors more expertise in the field of palliative care through exchange of experience and information with their peers from Saudi. Palliative care is a specialized form of healthcare focusing on relieving and preventing suffering.

Palliative medicine is appropriate for patients in all disease stages, including those undergoing treatment for curable illnesses and those living with chronic diseases, as well as patients who are nearing the end of life. Palliative medicine is a multidisciplinary approach to care which relies on input from physicians, nurses, social workers, psychologists, and other allied health professionals in formulating a plan of care. - KUNA