Director of MEACR says Iran makes great progress in preventing cancer
EghtesadOnline: Dr. Ali M. Ardekani, director of Middle Eastern association for Cancer Research (MEACR) says that among the Middle East countries, Iran has begun a good way to prevent cancer.
“Cancer is a global problem that the world is facing now. WHO has predicted cancer incidenct rate to triple in Middle Eastern countries in the next 50 years and therefore it is necessary for these countries to implement the comprehensive cancer prevention program." he said during an exclusive interview on the sidelines of the 2nd international Nastaran Cancer Symposium in Mashhad, Iran.
Dr. Ardekani, who has the experience of working at National Institutes of Health (NIH) and National Cancer Institute (NCI), is currently working on his cancer project which is about early detection of breast Cancer and Gastro-Intestinal cancer in Iran, according to ISNA.
He is also an Associate Professor at the Avicenna Research Institute in Tehran, Iran and a visiting professor at the National Institute of Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology in Iran.
“It is really necessary to focus on aspect of prevention, because the countries in this region are facing ageing population and incidence rate is on the increase and it’s better to implement this preventive policy” he added.
There isn’t any program for cancer prevention which is being implemented in national level however recently National Institutes of Health has initiated centers, programs and studies of how to go about implementing these national policies, Ardekani said, adding the Ministry of Health has a national cancer office which is aimed to study about contributed factors to cancer in Iran.
According to Ardekani, Non-Governmental Organizations including Nastaran Center for Cancer Prevention (NNCP) is doing a good job in prevention field. They educate public to change their lifestyle in order to avoid getting cancer. I think this organization has just begun in the good way and it should keep on working as well.
“An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure” he emphasized “If you have this slogan you can decrease the rate of cancer because prevention is better that treatment; it is cheaper and also most effective.
Dr. M Ardekani has published more than 40 articles and four books in Persian language and is a member of the Iran National Cancer steering Committee and a founding member of the Iranian society for Health Genomics and Biotechnology.