Royal Philips recently held a roundtable discussion to address the challenges of cancer care in the region as well as raise awareness around the need to have an earlier cancer diagnosis.

The meeting, which saw the participation of a number of prominent thought leaders from the region,  was held as part of the company's wide range of activities during Arab Health 2016.
 
The experts discussed key issues facing both healthcare providers and patients with the purpose to improve cancer care delivery.

According to a study, cancer accounts for more than 10 per cent of all deaths in most Middle Eastern countries, and currently one in three women and one in two men are diagnosed globally with the disease in their lifetime.

The region’s ageing and growing population will result in an increasing incidence of cancer by 2030, it added.

Philips is connecting care across the health continuum, and believes data integration as well as real time analytics is core to deliver a value added approach to personalizing cancer care.

The company’s solutions help make diagnosis quicker, exact and safer for the patient. The aim is to integrate clinical and patient data in one place, to potentially help clinicians improve multi-disciplinary collaboration, decision making and treatment outcomes while supporting patients during chemotherapy to improve the overall quality of life.

The event is in line with Philips' continued efforts to delivering connected oncology care solutions across the health continuum – from healthy living to disease prevention, diagnosis, treatment and homecare, said a senior official.

“Philips is addressing the growing need for a new approach to cancer care. We strive to deliver better, more personalized care to patients while reducing healthcare costs," remarked Arjen Radder, the CEO for Middle East and Turkey.

"This is done by constantly looking at better ways to locate cancers earlier, diagnosing them more precisely, making therapies more accurate with minimal invasive and taking a personalized approach in giving the patient the best possible care," stated Radder.

“Not only are we providing integrated ways to collect and analyze information but our clinical and biological expertise enables clinicians to interpret this data and choose the optimal treatment for the individual patient,” he added.

While the vast majority of cancer diagnoses are made or confirmed by a pathologist, the increased demand for pathology services continues to grow. Philips IntelliSite Pathology Solution and advanced visualization helps care providers reach informed decisions through enhanced productivity with high resolution digital images, collaboration features and case management tools.-TradeArabia News Service