Cancer

Cancer cases in countries around the world today are increasing at an alarming rate, and Afghanistan is no exception.  The last 30 years of war in Afghanistan have severely affected its people through the rampant presence of chemicals, poisons, and disease.  Leukemia, Lymphoma, and cancers of the esophagus, bone, breast, skin, ovarian, and testes are all very common.  The crisis is exacerbated by the fact that there is no research and medical center for Oncology anywhere in Afghanistan.

AHDS plans to establish a comprehensive Oncology Research Institute in Afghanistan.  The goal of the Institute will be to find the predisposing factors and actual causes of cancer in Afghanistan, so that we can finally begin to work towards finding cure for  it.  Through affiliations with two reputable Oncology Institutes (one in Asia and another in the United States), as well as the memberships of various other American and International Oncology and Radiology research organizations, we plan to ensure establishing an Institute of the highest quality standards.  The Institute will engage in:

• Survey; epidemiological, health management information systems
• Case Management; screening, early diagnosis, treatment, follow-up
• Study; causes, predisposing factors, dissemination, prognosis,, and most importantly the nature of tumor cells and how to combat them

The Oncology Research Institute will be established in the Ali Abad Academic Hospital of Kabul University.  Professors from different disciplines will participate in the research process, creating links with various health facilities all over Afghanistan to facilitate data collection, early warning systems, and feedback.  One staff member from each health facility will be professionally trained to cooperate with, and serve as the liaison to, the Oncology Institute.  At the Institute, a professional training program taught by expatriate specialists will be initiated for all of the beginning staff.  Through the successful implementation of this training program, the Institute will gain the experience and capacity needed in order to train future specialists itself, without the assistance of outside professionals.

As early as the 11th Century, before the advent of the microscope, a well-known Afghan physician by the name of Avicenna spoke about tuberculosis-related microbes and contagious diseases.  His famous medical book “Al-Cannon” (“The Law”) was taught in European medical schools for centuries.  Although medical science and research is not well established in Afghanistan today, AHDS will build upon both the region’s rich history of, and currently under-utilized, medical knowledge in order to establish an Oncology Research Institute that will not only benefit Afghanistan, but those suffering from cancer around the world.