In an effort to break locals taboo about discussion of life-threatening diseases, the Qatar Cancer Society has partnered with Resolution Productions to raise awareness about the illness with a new video.
Titled “Generosity is its Own Reward,” the two-minute video began airing on Qatar Television yesterday, and will continue to run for the next three months.
It centers on a little boy who, in trying to cope with the fact that his grandfather has suddenly fallen ill, decides to raise money for QCS. The soundtrack of the video was produced by Qatari musician Fahad Al Kubaisi, and production was supported by Ooredoo, Barwa Bank, Qatargas, Al Faisal Holdings, QTV and Qmedia.
Resolution Productions also donated its time and efforts. Speaking to Doha News, the company’s managing director Kirby Kearns said:
“It is a frightening statistic that while cancer is on the decrease in many western countries it is on the increase in the Middle East and has now overtaken traffic accidents as the number one killer of people in Qatar.
It was however fantastic to have the community and local corporations get behind this project with such passion and commitment. This film was our attempt to create a piece of work that would not only resonate and touch the local audience but really leave a lasting impression on Qatari society as whole.”
Thoughts?
Some facts : 1 out 6 Qatari’s has diabetes; 71% of the population are overweight and 32% are morbide obese. Let’s see how this will be addressed.
;(
Reform takes place in many ways. There re a lot of consequence’s that come from bringing a country of Bedouins
in the 1950’s to a thriving metropolis. It will take for the older generations to mentor the middle generations and the very young that have so much outside western influence. Hopefully a well-rounded society will immerge that will discourage smoking, excessive eating, entitlement, etc…
The old thing about Western influence, does anyone actually understand what that means? I would have thought with the largest populations being Indian and Filipino and with many Qatari children being raised by non-Qatari nannies their biggest influences would be from Asian cultures.
Sorry, who said there’s a taboo among locals about “about discussion of life-threatening diseases”? Making stuff up are we!
That’s what the producers said – also, it jives with the SCH’s new campaign to debunk myths about cancer in the community.
I will have to agree with Abdulrahman. I don’t think there is a taboo amonst locals on this subject from what I’ve seen.
Also cancer has overtaken traffic accidents as number one killer! Is this based on 2013/2014 statistics?
Resolution Productions did extensive research before embarking on this project. We then combined our findings with those of similar recent studies done by the Supreme Council of Heath and Sidra Medical and Research Center. A link to the Sidra study forms part of the above article.
It was found that there is a lack of awareness on issues surrounding the disease amongst some of the population as well as a reluctance to discuss some issues openly. It is our hope that the ‘Generosity is its Own Reward’ Campaign will stimulate debate and guide the implementation of awareness and prevention programs that work for Qatar.
Lack of awareness -maybe. But how does that translate to the topic being taboo? Is there a link available to this study that you refer to? I would be quite interested to read it.
Deepak, you might find this recent article from the peninsula of interest, especially the quote from Dr. Tabrizi.
‘Dr Tabrizi, who specialises in research in ovarian and breast cancer and runs the Stem Cell and Microenvironment Laboratory at WCMC-Q, said: “The main reason I wanted to run is that there is a taboo in the Middle East around cancer.
“People who fear they have the disease can be very reluctant to seek treatment because of the taboo and I think that can change if people know more about cancer”
Link from recent Peninsula newspaper article – http://thepeninsulaqatar.com/news/qatar/275273/wcmc-q-researcher-runs-360km-ultra-marathon