Ashraf AboArafe
The International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) at the World Health Organization held an official ceremony to raise the flag of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia as a new member of the agency during its sixty-sixth meeting in the French city of Lyon, in the presence of the Ambassador of the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques to the Republic of France and the Principality of Monaco, the Permanent Representative in charge of the Kingdom to UNESCO. , Fahd bin Mayouf Al-Ruwaili, and the participating Saudi delegation headed by the Secretary-General of the Saudi Health Council, Dr. Nahar bin Muzaki Al-Azmi, the Director-General of the National Cancer Center, Dr. Mushabab bin Ali Al-Asiri, and the Deputy Director-General of the Research Center at King Faisal Specialist Hospital and Research Center, Dr. Ali bin Saeed Al-Zahrani, Dr. Samar bint Jaber Al-Hamoud, Consultant Cancer Surgeon at King Faisal Specialist Hospital, Chairman of the Scientific Ethics Committee of the International Agency for Research on Cancer.
On this occasion, Dr. Nahar bin Muzaki Al-Azmi said: “The Kingdom’s accession to the membership of the International Agency for Research on Cancer in the World Health Organization reflects its role as a pioneering global leadership country in the field of disease prevention and control, and containing the spread of cancer and its complications with a solid scientific methodology, as dealing with cancer receives great attention.” “An announcement from the Kingdom’s government in various preventive, curative and social aspects.”
He added, “Joining the International Agency for Research on Cancer will have a positive impact on developing comprehensive programs at the regional and international levels to enhance research capacity in the field of cancer and meet the needs of cancer control, registration of cancer cases, early detection and screening, research, capacity building, and evaluation of cancer control programs.”
It is noteworthy that the International Agency for Research on Cancer was established in 1965 AD and is affiliated with the World Health Organization. Its membership includes 28 countries, and its headquarters are in the French city of Lyon. It works to identify the causes of cancer and take preventive measures against them, conduct and coordinate medical research related to the causes of the disease, and collect data. Incidence of cancer and recovery from it in various countries of the world and publishing international reports on that, in addition to issuing a series of peer-reviewed research studies on the risks likely to cause cancer, and publishing periodic classified lists of carcinogenic substances, potential carcinogenic substances, and non-carcinogenic substances.
