Minister of Health issues a decision to establish an epidemiology and cancer registry department at the Kuwait Cancer Control Center
Minister of Health Dr. Ahmed Al-Awadi issued a ministerial decision establishing a Department of Epidemiology and Cancer Registry at the Kuwait Cancer Control Center, thereby strengthening the development of a comprehensive and accurate national database of cancer data and indicators in the country.
The Ministry of Health stated in a press release on Monday that the decision comes as part of ongoing efforts to develop the country’s cancer control system and enhance the utilization of health data to support preventive and therapeutic planning, policies, and scientific research.
The decision aims to develop a system for monitoring and following up on cancer cases, improving the quality of data collection and analysis in accordance with medical and scientific standards. This will enable tracking of incidence, mortality, and survival rates, as well as changes in these metrics over the years, and the use of statistical indicators to forecast future trends and support prevention, diagnosis, and treatment efforts.
The decision stipulates that the department will comprise two specialized units: the Cancer Epidemiology and Medical Statistics Unit, responsible for reviewing, evaluating, and analyzing cancer registry data, issuing the annual report, and following up on research and scientific cooperation; and the Cancer Registry Unit, tasked with collecting and documenting diagnosed cancer cases in the State of Kuwait from various health sources, including government and private entities, laboratories, and mortality data for all ages and nationalities.
Furthermore, the decision includes provisions for developing cancer registry databases and linking them with relevant health systems involved in prevention, diagnosis, and treatment. It also calls for leveraging technological solutions to accelerate data entry and processing, publishing the annual registry report electronically, and linking its statistics to an interactive dashboard to enhance access to and utilization of health indicators.
The Ministry emphasized that the decision underscores the importance of strengthening Kuwait’s scientific presence through the participation of the cancer registry in studies and collaboration with international bodies and institutions, including the World Health Organization and specialized international cancer registry and research organizations, while adhering to ethical approvals, audit and review procedures, and Ministry of Health regulations regarding the use of data in research.
The establishment of the department represents an organizational step toward enhancing cancer epidemiological surveillance, transforming data into actionable indicators for health planning, scientific research, and care quality assessment. This supports the development of national cancer control programs and reinforces health decisions based on data and scientific evidence.
