US embassy cable - 05AMMAN2912

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 AMMAN 002912 
 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE PASS USAID 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: TBIO, XF, IS, JO 
SUBJECT: Cancer Fight in Middle East Focuses on Tobacco, 
Awareness 
 
Reftel: Amman 2394 
 
1.  Summary: The six members of the Middle East Cancer 
Consortium (MECC) met the CEO of the American Cancer Society 
in Amman on March 26 for a review of MECC's work and a 
discussion of the disease itself which focused on tobacco 
control and early detection.  MECC, funded at roughly 
600,000 dollars per year by the U.S. National Cancer 
Institute, is a good example of successful Arab-Israeli 
cooperation.  End summary. 
 
Moving From Statistics to Prevention 
------------------------------------ 
2.  MECC is readying itself for an expansion of its mission 
by moving towards prevention and control.  Founded in 1996 
by President Clinton in response to a request by his cancer- 
stricken mother, MECC's original goals focused on 
establishing cancer "registries," and on training and 
education.  A cancer registry is a detailed logbook on 
cancer cases.  Each MECC member must publish an annual 
report on cancer.  MECC is now preparing to take the next 
step of analyzing that information to pinpoint the etiology 
of the disease to direct prevention and treatment programs. 
Palliative care and oncology nursing are emerging as focus 
areas of MECC for upcoming training programs.  Palliative 
care is given in the last stage of the patient's life when 
there is no chance of a cure and when quality of life issues 
move to the forefront. 
 
MECC Members Meet CEO of American Cancer Society 
--------------------------------------------- --- 
3.  All six members of MECC sent representatives to a 
special meeting in Amman on March 26 to meet Dr. John 
Seffrin, CEO of the American Cancer Society.  Israel, Egypt, 
the Palestinian Authority, Jordan and Cyprus were the five 
founding members of MECC in 1996.  Turkey joined later.  The 
U.S. National Cancer Institute, one of the U.S. National 
Institutes of Health, provides modest cash support, on the 
order of $600,000 per year, to MECC.  Members provide in- 
kind contributions such as staff, office space and vehicles. 
 
Young Populations Keep Cancer Rates Low For Now 
--------------------------------------------- -- 
4.  Cancer rates for most MECC members are one-third those 
in the United States, deceptively low because of the young 
demographics.  Forty-six percent of Turks, forty percent of 
Egyptians and an astounding sixty-one percent of 
Palestinians are under age 20. Jordan has 60 percent of its 
population under age 24. This youthful population disguises 
the health crisis that will emerge in twenty or thirty years 
when today's adolescents and young adults enter their 
fifties and sixties.  This is when cancer incidence starts 
to rise dramatically.  This delayed epidemic is being 
exacerbated by the high levels of smoking in the MECC 
countries.  For example, fifty-five percent of Jordanian 
males above age 15 are smokers, an ominous statistic for 
cancer morbidity in 2035. 
 
Tobacco May Kill One Billion People this Century 
--------------------------------------------- --- 
5.  Dr. John Seffrin, CEO of the American Cancer Society, 
said that cancer is increasingly a preventable and treatable 
disease.  Cancer prevention is focused on removing risk 
factors.  Since smoking is a predominant cause of lung 
cancer, Dr. Seffrin said he is heartened by progress around 
the world on tobacco control, a major tool for fighting 
cancer.  Making tobacco hard to buy, unfashionable, and hard 
to smoke (through legal restrictions) will save millions of 
lives, he said.  Without intervention, tobacco will kill a 
billion people this century, he said. 
 
Early Detection Needed to Raise Cure Rates 
------------------------------------------ 
6.  An important aspect of the American experience that has 
led to lower cancer morbidity is emphasizing early 
detection.  Unfortunately, this is an area where the members 
of MECC face a major challenge.  At the Amman meeting, MECC 
national members described a cultural milieu where the 
initial contact of a cancer patient with a healthcare 
provider was often at a late stage of the disease.  This 
situation can lead to a vicious cycle where seeing a doctor 
is seen as tantamount to a death sentence, thus encouraging 
further delays in seeing healthcare providers.  Dr. Seffrin 
and Dr. Harmon Eyre from the American Cancer Society urged 
MECC to find and publicize success stories in cancer, where 
early detection has led to successful treatment and longer 
life. 
 
7.  Comment: Cancer is only partially a medical issue.  Much 
of the American success in reducing cancer rates has hinged 
on non-medical factors such as anti-smoking laws and public 
education campaigns.  Lung cancer rates in the United States 
are declining at 2 percent a year.  These rates will go 
through the roof in MECC countries in twenty years.  MECC 
members will have to adopt these tools, and immediately, in 
order to stave off a preventable epidemic.  Jordan's 
national representative highlighted the important 
contribution of USAID/Jordan in early cancer detection 
campaigns.  MECC itself, with its cadre of true believers, 
will be an important instrument in that campaign. 
 
HALE