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Professor Brahim El Gueddari is Director of the Institut National d'Oncologie (INO), in Rabat, Kingdom of Morocco. For a number of years the Institute, which is the country's main cancer facility, has worked closely with the IAEA's Department of Technical Cooperation, organising workshops and regional training courses in radiotherapy, brachytherapy and medical physics.
According to the World Health Organization (WHO), there are some 45,000 to 50,000 new cancer cases each year in Morocco (population 30 million). Of these, by far the most common are those afflicting women: breast (20 percent) and cervix (15 percent). As in many low-income countries, a major problem is that up to 80 percent of all cancer patients only report to hospital when the disease is at an advanced stage and little can be done.
Currently Morocco has about ten medical centres (including private and military facilities) offering cancer treatment, equipped with a total of 10 linear accelerators, 8 Cobalts and 22 brachytherapy machines. But these fall far short of meeting the country's needs. Prof. El Gueddari says that as few as 12,000 cancer patients even reach a cancer hospital. “Our challenge is to reduce the incidence of cancer and ensure that people throughout the country have access to cancer facilities,” he says. To achieve this, he acknowledges, massive investment is required, along with a rigorous system of prevention and early diagnosis.
Morocco's cancer burden is heavy, but in the last two years significant progress has been made thanks largely to the involvement of HRH Princess Salma, the wife King Mohammed VI. Under her patronage, a national cancer association has been founded and a number of programmes initiated, including prevention, early diagnosis, the procurement of drugs and expansion of hospitals. Prof. El Gueddari says that he is now looking for ways to build on this momentum. “I'd like to see the involvement of the whole community-politicians, NGOs, civil society-to reinforce this awareness,” he says.
At the same time, Prof. El Gueddari is proud of his own institution's record as a teaching hospital and centre of excellence. The INO runs two diploma courses, one in radiation oncology and one in medical oncology, which are attended by African doctors in training. He believes these training options could be tapped into as part of the PACT initiative to fight cancer through a broad, international alliance. “We can offer our know-how and experience to improve the skills of professional workers in Africa,” he says. “We are most willing to be more involved in the PACT initiative.”
Morocco's efforts to tackle the scourge of cancer are starting to show results, says Prof. El Gueddari. “In just two years, since the First Lady started her initiative, the cancer situation has changed,” he says. “This shows how quickly it can be turned around if we all work together. But, still, this is just the beginning.”
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