US first lady Jill Biden opens up about son Beau's cancer battle during Abu Dhabi visit

President's wife visits Cleveland Clinic and Emirati landmarks on last solo foreign tour

Jill Biden has spoken passionately about the need to tackle rising global cancer rates, improve survival chances and about her own late son's fight against the disease in a visit to Abu Dhabi.

America's first lady spoke about the death of Beau, aged 46, to brain cancer when she met oncologists at Cleveland Clinic Abu Dhabi, one of the Middle East's top hospitals. The experience of trying to support a son with cancer was "so overwhelming and confusing".

"We walked in, we heard brain cancer, because you hear nothing else," she said of her son, who died in 2015. "There was so much to absorb and we were, you know … the different treatments and everything, the medicines, the going from hospital to hospital, trying to find the best treatments available."

Earlier, Ms Biden held a private meeting with Sheikha Fatima bint Mubarak, Mother of the Nation, at the Sea Palace. The first lady said Sheikha Fatima had told of historically low rates of testing among Emirati women – and how turning that around has been a key target for the nation.

"Women didn't want to be screened, or they didn't know about screening," Ms Biden said of her conversation. "They were hesitant to be screened. We know that women have not been included in much of the research for such a long time, which is why I've got so interested in women's health. I could speak to you for hours about the disparities between cultures."

Ms Biden did not speak about the incoming Trump administration nor what it may mean for Medicaid, the long fought-over treatment plan for low-income Americans, but said: "Everything is touched by cancer, whether you’re rich, poor, Republican, Democrat."

She was told about new techniques using AI to target cancer cells and keep healthy tissue alive, to spare patients the agony of invasive chemotherapy.

"There are a lot of negatives things to AI but also positives," she said, jokingly adding: "I’m an English teacher so when my patients use AI, they’re punished!"

Ms Biden was in the capital to talk about the White House's Biden Cancer Moonshot programme. Her daughter Ashley has a key role in the campaign and was also in Abu Dhabi for the visit.

Later, Mrs Biden visited Qasr Al Hosn, the oldest stone building in Abu Dhabi, now a city of more than two million.

She left a handwritten note in the guestbook that read: "May the wisdom of these wells continue to light a way forward in peace and prosperity for the centuries to come. Thank you for your warm welcome and hospitality."

In her final stop of the day, Ms Biden spoke at the Milken Institute's annual meeting in Abu Dhabi. She said medical research has left women behind, and that treatments and education about conditions such as the menopause, endometriosis and heart disease was still lacking, even in this advanced age.

"Women are living longer in poor health," Ms Biden said.

On Thursday, Ms Biden will travel to Doha to highlight the work of the US and Qatar in education and health, with visits to the Qatar Foundation and Weill Cornell Medicine – Qatar. She will speak at the Doha Forum on Saturday and attend a dinner to celebrate the family wedding of Sheikh Khalifa bin Hamad Al Thani and Sheikha Fatima bin Nasser Al Thani.

Ms Biden and president-elect Donald Trump will attend the reopening of Notre-Dame Cathedral in Paris on Sunday, five years on from the fire that devastated the landmark, before returning to Washington for the final weeks of her husband's presidency.

Ms Biden's visit comes after President Sheikh Mohamed visited Washington in September to strengthen UAE and US ties, cement a long-standing defence partnership and push for greater co-operation on advanced technology and business investments.