Latest news with #Chouchane
Qatar Tribune
3 days ago
- Health
- Qatar Tribune
WCM-Q shines light on Qatar's path to ‘global excellence' in cancer care, research
Tribune News Network Doha Researchers at Weill Cornell Medicine-Qatar (WCM-Q) have conducted a comprehensive study of Qatar's pioneering national cancer care and research strategy, highlighting the country's significant achievements in improving prevention, detection and treatment of the disease. The report, published in the leading UK medical journal Lancet Oncology, notes the remarkable success of Qatar's investments in advanced clinical and research infrastructure, cutting-edge technologies, and recruitment of highly skilled healthcare professionals over the past two decades, which have transformed the country into a regional leader in cancer care. Areas of particular strength in Qatar's system of cancer care - which has been shaped by the National Cancer Strategy (2010) and the Qatar Cancer Plan (2023-26) - include special expertise in precision and personalized medicine, early detection (based on well-developed screening facilities and schedules), and robustly evidence-based cancer management following diagnosis, leading to improved survival rates. The research, titled 'Qatar national cancer care and research: pioneering strategies for global health excellence,' also highlights areas where some challenges still exist, including late-stage diagnosis, low health literacy relating to cancer among some demographic groups in Qatar, and data collection and long-term analysis. WCM-Q's Dr. Lotfi Chouchane, professor of genetic medicine and professor of microbiology and immunology, is the senior author of the paper. The report, and a subsequent paper also published in Lancet Oncology, additionally highlights the potential for establishing beneficial regional and global collaborations on cancer care and research, particularly with Saudi Arabia and Jordan. This subsequent paper, titled 'Bridging borders for resilience in cancer control in the Middle East: a strategic alliance of Saudia Arabia, Qatar, and Jordan' also provides an epidemiological breakdown of patterns of cancer burden in the three countries. Dr. Murugan Subramanian, senior research associate, is a co-first author of the paper, with Dr. Chouchane serving as a co-senior author. Other researchers who contributed include Sheikh Dr. Mohammed Bin Hamad Al-Thani, director of the Public Health Department at the Ministry of Public Health and associate professor of Clinical Healthcare Policy and Research at WCM-Q and Qatar University; Dr Salha Bujassoum, senior consultant at the National Centre for Cancer Care and Research; Dr. Khalid Rashid Al-Rumaihi, head of the Department of Urology at Hamad Medical Corporation; and Dr. Hilal Lashuel, research development and innovation advisor to the chairperson of Qatar Foundation and executive director of RDI at the Chairperson's Office. Dr. Chouchane said: 'This research shows very clearly that the past two decades have been a huge success story for Qatar in its efforts to establish a truly world-class cancer care and innovation infrastructure. Looking ahead, we identified some challenges to overcome in the areas of community health literacy; cultural sensitivities surrounding important cancer-prevention measures; language barriers; data collection, digitization and long-term analysis; issues around healthcare equity; and the growing global challenge of unhealthy lifestyle choices, which can increase cancer risk. 'We can see, however, that Qatar is already taking steps to address many of these challenges, as is shown by the Qatar Cancer Plan 2023-26, developed by the Ministry of Public Health and the National Cancer Governance Board.' The research also draws attention to Qatar's efforts to prioritize the integration of cutting-edge precision and personalized medicine protocols into clinical practice - a measure which is already having a significant positive impact on survival rates. He added: 'Precision medicine is one of the most promising areas for cancer research and enhanced patient outcomes, but a limiting factor is that it is dependent on good-quality genomic data matched with good-quality clinical data. Therefore, sharing genomic and clinical data with healthcare systems in neighbouring countries who have populations with similar ethnic backgrounds could provide a dramatic boost for precision oncology in the region.'
African Manager
27-01-2025
- Automotive
- African Manager
20% of Tunisians want to buy an electric car
'20% of Tunisians are ready to buy an electric vehicle in the short term,' according to the 'Observatoire de l'automobile' survey carried out by the Emrhod Consulting Institute. The results of this survey were presented on Friday evening in Tunis at the 1st edition of the 'Victoires de l'Automobile' event. The results show that almost 29% of Tunisians say they intend to buy a car (new or used) in 2025. The survey, which was conducted among a representative sample of the Tunisian population to gauge their perceptions of the sector and their expectations, also revealed that 47% of Tunisians surveyed would opt for a combustion engine, 17% for a rechargeable hybrid and 14% for an electric vehicle. According to the survey, purchase price remains the main criterion for choosing a vehicle (49%), followed by fuel consumption (47%), aesthetics and design (33%), availability of spare parts (32%) and maintenance costs (31%). In terms of preferred body styles, the saloon remains the most popular (45%), followed by the sports utility vehicle (31%) and the compact city car (15%). According to the survey, 80% of respondents take maintenance costs into account when buying a car. Finally, the country of origin of the vehicle is important to 75% of respondents (40% consider it very important and 35% fairly important). New measures to promote electric mobility by 2030 Regulatory, pricing, technical, institutional and economic measures have been put in place to promote electric cars in Tunisia, Wael Chouchane, Secretary of State to the Minister of Industry, Mines and Energy in charge of Energy Transition, said recently. He noted that it had been decided at the regulatory level to consider the recharging of electric vehicle batteries as a 'service', with electricity as one of the various inputs. To this end, a draft decree has been prepared to enable all aspects of the charging service to be organized through a set of specifications, he added. With regard to the standardization framework, Chouchane said that the standard relating to the nomenclature of Tunisian activities had been updated to include the electric vehicle battery recharging service, with a decree updating standard NT120 currently being adopted. He also noted that the Ministry of Industry is working on a national strategy for electric mobility, which will help improve the energy performance of the transport sector and reduce its carbon footprint. This strategy will make it possible to set clear targets for the number of electric cars and the number of charging points, in parallel with the national energy transition strategy, the national environmental transition strategy and the low-carbon development strategy, he added,. The transport sector is the largest consumer of energy in Tunisia, accounting for around a third of final energy consumption and more than 50% of oil product consumption.
