As is the case in many parts of the world, awareness of and treatment for oral cancer is "severely lacking" in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, according to a presentation January 30 at the 38th Arab Health conference.
Healthcare professionals and the community must make the disease a priority, said David Wray, MD, BDS, dean of the Dubai School of Dental Medicine, according to a story in the National.
A recently published study by dentistry students at the University of Sharjah College of Dentistry found that only 5% of more than 1,000 respondents had been screened for oral cancer.
Only 21.6% had heard of an oral cancer examination. The majority who had undergone screening were expatriates, mainly from Europe and the U.S., according to Dr. Wray.
Early detection is key to survival, he told the audience. "If the lesion is 2 cm in diameter, there is a 95% survival rate after six months," he said.
However, oral cancer is not among the 10 most common cancers in Abu Dhabi, according to government officials, and so has not been a priority for the government up to now.
Health officials are calling on dentists to help increase oral cancer awareness among their patients.
