Breast test cover plan ‘within six months’

Insurers acknowledge growing chorus of voices calling for policies that provide for cancer screening services for women.

Breast cancer survivor Umaima Tinwala shares her experiences and urges women to take check-ups. Hers is one of the UAE’s campaigning voices for women’s health. Pawan Singh / The National

DUBAI // Breast cancer check-ups for women and other life-saving preventive treatments could be included in health insurance plans within “six months”.

The move came as medical experts voiced growing concerns that women were avoiding early testing because of the costs involved.

“We are working on a programme to treat our patients with the Dubai Health Authority but we need someone to set the example, and I believe in six months we will see more insurers take up this model,” said Dr Sherif Mahmoud, head of healthcare operations at Axa Insurance Gulf.

“We need to encourage people that this is the first step. Prevention and early detection is key and insurance companies must play a role and invest more on that side.”

Preventative cover for breast cancer, considered one of the five most prevalent cancers in the UAE, can range between Dh1,000 to Dh3,000 a year and screenings between Dh500 to Dh1,000 a year while treatment costs are covered by insurance companies in Abu Dhabi and Dubai.

Currently, death rates due to breast cancer in the UAE affect 80 to 90 women out of 100,000. The Government hopes to reduce that figure to 62 by 2021.

“There is no way to reach this figure except early prevention, so it’s not smart at all to continue doing the same things because you are living in an environment that is asking for something completely different,” Dr Mahmoud said at Axa Gulf’s Breast Cancer Awareness talk in Dubai on Wednesday.

“Caregivers aren’t working together but we have to step in to change. If you get the right partners on board who can offer discounts for ladies through providers and pharmaceutical companies, it can help.”

Umaima Tinwala, a 39-year-old Indian living in Dubai, survived breast cancer last year after a diagnosis when she was 36.

“I lost my mum to ovarian cancer and an aunt to breast cancer,” she said. “Given my age and history, the doctor said it was better to go through chemotherapy and radiotherapy so it’s been quite a journey. Going through the treatment protocol and the chemotherapy is probably the worst thing that can ever happen to you.”

She said her aim was to inspire young women to get check-ups. “I didn’t understand it fully until I went through it myself and I can tell you it’s the most horrendous thing ever.

“I’m here and I’m alive but fighting cancer has changed me and my life to a great extent. Priorities have been rearranged in my life and, although you’re never really OK because of the after-effects of chemo like failing eyesight and decalcification of the bones, I have been able to enjoy a lot of positives for the simple reason that I detected my cancer early.”

Dr Mazen Al-Chihabi, vice president of healthcare at NMC Healthcare, said awareness among women in the UAE was low.

“A lot of women don’t know how to perform self-checks,” he said. “We lack awareness. Women should get checked from the age of 25 years old if they have high-risk factors, like obesity or if they eat a lot of junk food. In the past, it used to be later but now all international standards require an earlier check.”

In the GCC, more than half of women between the age of 40 and 49 are considered overweight with 15 to 18 per cent of them considered obese. “The risk factors are quite high in the region,” Dr Mahmoud said. “Cancer isn’t necessarily a disease of old age but the risk gets higher as you get older.”