Purposefully designed to raise awareness on the rising concern of cervical cancer among women and the pivotal role of early screening for cervical cancer, this educational session brought together a leading doctor, healthcare professional and journalists from the UAE.

• CervicalWorldwide, cervical cancer is the second4th most common type of cancer in women worldwide.

• More than 90%and cause of deaths occurdeath in women living in low- and middle- income countries. [1]

• When detected and managed at the very earliest stage, cervical cancer has over a 93% cure rate

Dubai, United Arab Emirates, 20 April 2016: As part of its commitment to continued medical education in the region, leader for in-vitro diagnostics, Roche Diagnostics Middle East organized an interactive educational session today aimed at highlighting the importance of early screeningdetection for cervical cancer among women. Addressing this issue,This important health topic was led by Dr. Saad Aswad, Consultant Gynecological Oncologist and Chair of the O&G Department at Tawam Hospital, stressed on the vital role of educating women], and empowering themattracted more than [xx] journalists in the prevention of this life threatening disease.attendance.

“Not only do we want to highlightaddress the critical role early screening hasplays in saving lives, we want to support the knowledge of women in the UAE and educateempower them onwith options thatwhich provide highly accurate diagnosis of cervical cancer.” said Dr. AswadSaad.

Persistent infection with Human Papillomavirus is the principal cause of cervical cancer in women. In 2008,, with HPV implicated in greater than 99 percent of cervical cancers worldwide. The World Health Organization estimates there were an estimated 529are 500,000 new cases and 274,00 deaths due to cervical cancer. More than 85 % of cervical cancer deaths are in developing countries,annually where it accounts for 13% of all female cancers.[2] more than 270,000 women succumb to the disease.Current guidelines for screening allow for cytology or cytology plus HPV testing determining the risk of cervical cancer. However, HPV testing, and 16 and 18 genotyping in particular, identifies more women at risk earlier than Pap cytology testing alone.

“In the UAE, cervical cancer is the second most common form of cancer among women. In developing countries the mortality rate due to cervical cancer is 27 per 1,000 populations and this falls to 6 per 1,000 in developed countries due to better preventative screening measures, yet, there is no active screening campaign in the country,” Dr. Aswad added.

Cervical cancer represents a continuing challenge across the region because of the lack of awareness among women and – until recent years - the lack of a specific diagnostics tests. Physicians have to determine which patient is at risk and requires medical attention depending on the testrest results, reliably excludingexclude or predictingpredict the development of the disease and confidently focusingfocus on those women at a high risk of HPV.

The cobas HPV Test by Roche is a qualitative in-vitro test for the detection of Human Papillomavirus in patient specimens. The test utilizes amplification of target DNA by the Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) and nucleic acid hybridization for the detection of 14 high-risk (HR) HPV types in a single analysis. The test is performed on the cobas 4800 System, which offers true walk-away automation of nucleic acid purification, PCR (polymerase chain reaction) set-up and real-time PCR amplification and detection to help laboratories achieve maximum efficiency.

RDME has taken the unprecedented move of being the first IVD Company to have a Management Centre and a logistics hub in the Middle East. RDME has extended its ownership of the entire supply chain, quality control and customer support all the way into the centre of the region. This base of operations reinforces the commitment to global Roche standards and is driven by a full team of vastly experienced specialists offering a complete portfolio of services. With this regional empowerment, RDME has moved its leadership and decision-making closer to its customers and distributors. These investments allow Roche Diagnostics Middle East to develop from being a supplier into becoming the preferred IVD partner for its customers.

RDME offers a complete portfolio of services in 16 countries: UAE, Saudi Arabia, Iraq, Iran, Qatar, Kuwait, Bahrain, Oman, Yemen, Syria, Jordan, Palestine, Lebanon, Egypt, Libya and Maldives. For more information, please visit

Wasan Abdelhaq
Corporate Communications Supervisor - Middle East
Roche Diagnostics Middle East

 References:

1. WHO, http://www.who.int/mediacentre/factsheets/fs334/en/

2. WHO, http://www.who.int/immunization/topics/hpv/en/