How beating breast cancer changed the lives of four women in the Middle East

Participants take part in the Pink Caravan Ride in Dubai on February 28, 2018, a UAE breast cancer initiative. (AFP/File Photo)
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Updated 30 October 2021
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How beating breast cancer changed the lives of four women in the Middle East

  • Gloria Halim, Cristina Polo, Sapna Venugopal and Bharti Rao have one thing in common: they are breast-cancer survivors
  • October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month, when survivors fundraise, offer support and encourage women to self-check

DUBAI: Gloria Halim, Cristina Polo, Sapna Venugopal and Bharti Rao come from very different backgrounds but they have one thing in common: they are all breast-cancer survivors who emerged from their battles with the disease with a new outlook on life and a desire to help others.

The four women, who are in their 40s and 50s, are among the millions of women worldwide each year who are diagnosed with some form of breast cancer and embark on a difficult journey of surgeries, chemotherapy and radiotherapy to overcome what can be a fatal illness.

Beyond the physical side effects of the treatments, the experience of fighting and beating cancer can have a profound emotional effect on women. Indeed, medical practitioners say the vast majority of patients emerge from treatment with a greater willingness to extend a helping hand to others.

Many also take what is often seen as a second chance as a sign to change the direction of their lives, taking on new challenges or switching to a new career path.

British citizen Gloria Halim, for example, was working in the information technology sector in the UK when she discovered she had breast cancer 14 years ago. Now in her mid-40s, she is a chief wellness officer in the corporate world and a certified holistic health practitioner living in Dubai.




Breast cancer, known to be the most common cancer in women worldwide, is the leading cause of death among Saudi women, according to a retrospective epidemiological study conducted in 2012. (Shutterstock)

“For me, the key information is that prevention is possible and is important,” Halim told Arab News this month, which is Breast Cancer Awareness Month. “Having gone through what I’ve been through, there is no way I want anybody else to go through it.”

Halim said she has come to appreciate the importance of good physical, emotional and mental health in helping to reduce stress and maintain a strong immune system.

“We are not built to be in fight-or-flight mode constantly,” she said. “It takes a long time to get to the point where the human body says: ‘I’ve had enough. I can’t move.’ The immune system goes down, inflammation of the bodily organs goes up, an environment for disease grows.”

Breast cancer is the most common form of cancer in the world. As of December last year, 7.8 million surviving women had been diagnosed with breast cancer in the past five years, according to the World Health Organization. In 2020, about 2.3 million women were diagnosed with breast cancer worldwide and 685,000 died from the disease.

In Saudi Arabia, of the 24,485 cases of cancer recorded in 2018, 14.8 percent involved breast cancer, making it the most common form of cancer in the Kingdom. Of the 4,707 cancer cases recorded in the UAE in the same year, 22.4 percent were breast cancer.




L-R: Bharti Rao, Cristina Polo and Sapna Venugopal who all beat breast cancer. (Supplied)

While there was little improvement in breast cancer mortality figures between the 1930s and 1970s, survival rates began to rise in several countries from the 1980s on, thanks to early detection programs and new and improved treatments.

A growing body of research and significant medical advances continue to improve the prognosis for millions of women with the disease. But perhaps the most important development has been the increase in public awareness and the willingness of women to check themselves regularly and seek help early if they notice a potential problem.

Cristina Polo, from France, was 43 and living in Dubai when she noticed a lump in her breast in 2018. Determined to see her daughter, who was six at the time and the youngest of three siblings, grow up and have children of her own, she sought treatment immediately.

“Since cancer treatment, I have had a thirst for life,” she told Arab News. “I have this urge to do things in life that I kept postponing or put aside, saying I would do them later.”

Like Halim, Polo viewed her victory over cancer as an opportunity to change course. After completing her treatment, she resigned from a senior position in Dubai’s hospitality industry, began a course in digital marketing, earned a certificate in teaching English as a foreign language, and established a blog, called Cancer Majlis, devoted to cancer awareness.

INNUMBERS

* 2.3m women diagnosed with breast cancer worldwide in 2020.

* 685,000 breast cancer deaths globally in 2020.

(Source: WHO)

She said she spent many years before she was confronted with cancer worrying about “what ifs” and putting off making changes.

“Then, boom, the diagnosis came,” Polo said. “Suddenly, all this ‘what if, what if, what if’ became ‘what else, what else, what else can I explore?’”

Polo moved to Paris last year, where she teaches English at a French hospitality school and is a consultant for the travel and hospitality industry. She also enjoys sculpting and painting in her spare time and does voluntary work with recovering cancer patients, helping them to plan their post-cancer lives by developing new skills in the arts.

Sapna Venugopal had a similar desire to help others following her cancer diagnosis in Sept. 2017 at the age of 46 while living in Dubai. So she began volunteering to visit patients undergoing chemotherapy in the city, and donating a portion of her income as a jewelry designer and from furniture restoration to a cancer charity in her native India.

Despite the many awareness campaigns launched by governments and charities the world over, women are still often left in shock when they receive a breast cancer diagnosis.




Pink umbrellas decorate the Lebanese Ministry of Public Health in the capital Beirut as part of a national campaign for the public awareness of breast cancer. (AFP/File Photo)

“At the very beginning everybody thinks they have just been handed a death sentence, which they haven’t,” Elsbeth Bentley, a nurse at Dubai’s Mediclinic City Hospital, told Arab News. She is one of the few specialist breast cancer nurses in the UAE, who undergo an extra year of training to teach them how to help with the specific needs of breast cancer patients, with a main focus on communication skills.

“Research shows that after the word ‘cancer’ has been mentioned in a meeting with a doctor, most people will only retain some 20 percent of what they are told, because it freezes the brain and there is this feeling that it is happening to somebody else and they are not connected with it,” Bentley added.

Regardless of background and social status, all women react to the diagnosis in a similar way, said Bissi Punnackel-Sivaraman, a breast care nurse at King’s College Hospital in Dubai.

“It is a stressful period,” she told Arab News. “Most of the time patients will be in shock upon diagnosis, followed by anger, anxiety, fear and loneliness. Some of the patients will be in denial and it will take some time for them to accept the diagnosis, as it happens unexpectedly.

“Initial reaction will be more or less the same. But taking it in and coping with the treatment can be slightly different, as each individual is unique and it can depend on their personal, family and occupational backgrounds.”

Bharti Rao, from India, recalled feeling “absolutely numb” and slipping into a state of denial when cancer was diagnosed in 2018, the year she turned 40, while living in Dubai.




Dubai's Burj Khalifa is lit up in pink to raise awareness and funds to fight breast cancer. (AFP/File Photo)

“But I didn’t sit on it for long because I understood that the more I go into denial, the more I am being pushed toward darkness,” she told Arab News.

Rao said she drew much of her resolve to seek treatment and beat the disease from her husband, parents, daughters and in-laws.

“I fought physically but they fought with me mentally and physiologically,” she said. “And that is where my battle was won. My day started with a smile and ended with gratitude.”

Rao worked in the banking sector but left her job before the cancer diagnosis and had worked as a volunteer helping children with autism. After beating the disease she developed a new outlook on life and is now a certified holistic lifestyle coach who provides her services for free to friends and relatives in Dubai and other people they refer to her, helping them during their emotional journeys while fighting cancer.

There is clearly an overriding sense among many breast-cancer survivors that they have been given a second chance in life to take on fresh challenges and pursue experiences they had long put on hold. Many also emerge with a sense of gratitude and a desire to give something back in some way.

“They want to see some good come out of it,” said nurse Bentley. “Life is not going to go back to exactly how it was. Something in them has changed and that means they don’t want to accept the things they accepted before.”


Tajani says Syrian leader pledged to stop ‘illegal immigration’

Updated 13 sec ago
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Tajani says Syrian leader pledged to stop ‘illegal immigration’

  • Tajani also met his new counterpart Asaad Al-Shaibani, after which the Syrian official said he would soon make his first official tour of Europe

BEIRUT: Syria’s new leader Ahmed Al-Sharaa told visiting Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani on Friday that he was ready to stem “illegal immigration” to Europe, the European diplomat said.
“Al-Sharaa says he is ready to block illegal immigration, (and) fight against drug traffickers,” Tajani said in the Lebanese capital, the second leg of his trip, adding these were “two crucial commitments for Italy.”
Tajani said he had called for a moratorium on EU sanctions on Syria for six months or one year.
However, Tajani added that “lifting sanctions is not a national decision. They are a European bloc decision.”
Tajani also met his new counterpart Asaad Al-Shaibani, after which the Syrian official said he would soon make his first official tour of Europe.
“I am pleased to announce my intention to head a high-level delegation on a foreign tour that includes a number of European countries,” he said. Al-Shaibani has already visited Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Qatar and Jordan since the start of the month. Tajani arrived after hosting talks with European counterparts and US Secretary of State Antony Blinken in Rome on Thursday, where Tajani said they are seeking a “stable and united Syria.”
The EU’s foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas earlier on Friday said the 27-nation bloc could begin lifting sanctions if Syria’s new rulers took steps to form an inclusive government that protects minorities.

 


US working with regional partners to support ‘responsible transition’ in Syria: Official

Updated 10 January 2025
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US working with regional partners to support ‘responsible transition’ in Syria: Official

  • Acting undersecretary for political affairs addressed press briefing attended by Arab News
  • John Bass would not answer questions regarding Israel’s military attacks against Syria

CHICAGO: Discussions to ensure a “responsible transition” in Syria to prevent a rise in terrorism, provide basic services to citizens and ensure good relations with regional nations are progressing, the US acting undersecretary for political affairs told a press briefing attended by Arab News on Friday.

Concluding two days of talks with Turkish officials in Ankara, John Bass said the Syria Working Group also addressed defining Syria’s borders and “strengthening internal security” to prevent a resurgence of Daesh and other “foreign terrorist organizations” in the country.

Bass was careful not to predict how US policy might change under Donald Trump, nor would he address questions regarding Israel’s military attacks against Syria. 

“We’ve also discussed in depth a range of steps that the United States and other governments have taken to enable the interim authorities in Damascus to address the immediate needs of the Syrian people, including via support from other governments for things like salaries, payments for the civilian administration at the national level, for donations of power or energy, and for some of the other measures that are required to stabilize the Syrian government, to stabilize the economy, and to give the Syrian people hope that this transition will yield a better future for all of the citizens of the country,” Bass said.

“What we’re working through … is how we can affect a responsible transition … so that it contributes to strengthening national forces over time and building, rebuilding a military and a police service that responsibly fulfills its duties and obligations to the Syrian people, but to do that in a way that doesn’t create immediate risk,” he added.

“It’s a complicated process to help a national government, particularly one that’s an interim government that needs to do a lot of internal work with other parts of Syrian society to determine what that government will look like in the future.”

Bass said the US is concerned that events in Syria do not “pose a threat to any of Syria’s neighbors, to countries in the wider region or to countries further afield, whether that’s in Europe, the United States or elsewhere around the world.”

He added that “the long-running civil war in Syria and the long-standing presence of Daesh” in the country have created threats to neighboring nations.

“It’s in that spirit that we’ve been engaging … in discussions about how we can help work together to ensure that as this transition continues inside Syria that it doesn’t just produce a better, safer environment inside Syria for all Syrians, it also addresses the security concerns of Turkiye, of Iraq, of Jordan, and of Syria’s other neighbors,” he said.

The US “greatly” admires “the generosity of the Turkish government and the Turkish people in hosting over 3 million (Syrian) refugees for now well over a decade,” he added. 

Bass said discussions were focused on ensuring that fighters of terrorist groups such as the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) are forced to return to their nations of origin.

“We’re in agreement with the government of Turkiye and a number of other governments that Syria can’t be, shouldn’t be in the future a safe haven for foreign terrorist organizations or foreign terrorist fighters. And we believe that any foreign terrorist that’s present inside Syria should leave the country,” Bass said in addressing the PKK.

“Ideally, many of those people will be returning to their countries of origin, their countries of nationality, through a responsible process that involves those governments potentially to face justice for their actions.

“But they should no longer be present in Syria, contributing to instability in the country. And that includes any foreign terrorists who have taken advantage of the long-term instability in Syria to set up shop whether it’s in northeastern Syria, whether it’s in southwestern or southern or southeastern Syria.” 

Asked how Trump administration policies might differ, Bass said: “I’m a senior official of the current United States government. I can’t speak for the next US administration, nor can I offer any insights at this time into how US policy might change under the next administration.”

He expressed confidence, however, that “colleagues in the US government” will continue to support Syria’s transition.

Bass also emphasized that the small US presence in Syria has one specific purpose, “to ensure that Daesh doesn’t again become a threat to the people of Syria, the people of Turkiye, the people of Iraq or Jordan, or any other country.”


Israeli military confirms hostage killed alongside father in Gaza

Updated 10 January 2025
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Israeli military confirms hostage killed alongside father in Gaza

  • Israeli forces continued on Friday to pound Gaza, with Palestinian medics saying at least 15 people had been killed
  • The Israeli military has said it suspected Hamza and Youssef were killed in one of its strikes

JERUSALEM: Israel confirmed on Friday that the remains of a hostage found killed in Gaza were of Hamza Ziyadne, the son of deceased hostage Youssef Ziyadne, whose body was found beside him in an underground tunnel near the southern city of Rafah.
Israeli forces continued on Friday to pound Gaza, with Palestinian medics saying at least 15 people had been killed, including a journalist for Cairo-based Al-Ghad TV who had been covering an incident at Nuseirat refugee camp in central Gaza.
There was no immediate comment on the latest fighting from Israeli’s military, which earlier announced it had concluded forensic tests to identify Hamza Ziyadne, an Israeli Bedouin taken hostage by Hamas-led fighters alongside his father and two of his siblings.
It said earlier this week that the body of Hamza’s father Youssef had been recovered close to those of armed guards from Islamist group Hamas or another Palestinian militant group and there were indications that Hamza may also have been killed.
There was no immediate comment from Hamas although the group’s armed wing told Qatar’s Al-Jazeera news network that most of the hostages in northern Gaza were now considered missing because of intense Israeli strikes there.
The left-leaning Israeli newspaper Haaretz reported that the Israeli military has said it suspected Hamza and Youssef were killed in one of its strikes, given their bodies were found next to those of dead militants. A military spokesperson said this week that Youssef Ziyadne had not died recently.
The military declined to comment on the cause of the hostages’ deaths.

EFFORTS TO END FIGHTING
Mediators Qatar, the United States and Egypt are making new efforts to reach a deal to halt the fighting in Gaza and free the remaining hostages before President-elect Donald Trump takes office on Jan. 20.
The Hostages and Missing Family Forum, which represents most of the families, renewed its call on the Israeli government to conclude a deal with Hamas and bring back the hostages, saying Youssef and Hamza Ziyadne could have been saved through an earlier agreement.
The negotiations have been at an impasse for a year over two key issues. Hamas has said it will only free its remaining hostages if Israel agrees to end the war and withdraw all its troops from Gaza. Israel says it will not end the war until Hamas is dismantled and all hostages are free.
Israeli defense minister Israel Katz on Friday instructed the military to present a plan for the “total defeat” of Hamas in Gaza if it does not release the hostages before Trump’s inauguration. It was not clear how such a plan would differ from existing Israeli military plans.
“We must not be dragged into a war of attrition against Hamas in Gaza, while the hostages remain in the tunnels, putting their lives at risk and suffering severely,” he told senior commanders, according to a defense ministry statement.
Israel launched its assault on the Gaza Strip after Hamas fighters stormed across its borders in October 2023, killing 1,200 people and taking more than 250 hostages, according to Israeli tallies.
Since then, more than 46,000 people have been killed in Gaza, according to Palestinian health officials, with much of the enclave laid waste and most of its people — displaced multiple times — facing acute shortages of food and medicine due to Israel’s actions, humanitarian agencies say.


Arab, international support for Lebanon pours in as Aoun set to form government

Updated 10 January 2025
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Arab, international support for Lebanon pours in as Aoun set to form government

  • Bukhari expressed “Saudi Arabia’s satisfaction with Lebanon’s successful presidential election”
  • Cypriot President Nikos Christodoulides visited Beirut to congratulate Aoun, marking the first visit by a foreign head of state to Lebanon following the election

BEIRUT: Joseph Aoun’s first day as president of Lebanon was marked by strong Arab and international support.
Parliamentary consultations to name a new prime minister will take place next week.
Imran Riza, UN humanitarian coordinator in Lebanon, announced the allocation of $30 million from the Lebanon Humanitarian Fund to address urgent humanitarian needs caused by the recent escalation of hostilities between Israel and Hezbollah.
Lebanon’s Dar Al-Fatwa relayed remarks from the Saudi ambassador to Lebanon, Walid Bukhari, during his meeting with Grand Mufti Sheikh Abdel Latif Derian.
Bukhari expressed “Saudi Arabia’s satisfaction with Lebanon’s successful presidential election, achieved through Lebanese unity that inspires hope.”
He described the accomplishment as a significant step toward Lebanon’s renaissance, reconstruction, security, and stability, as well as the initiation of reforms and restoring Arab and international confidence.
Dar Al-Fatwa also reported that Bukhari admired “President Joseph Aoun’s inaugural speech, which was a reflection of his national responsibility.”
On Friday, Cypriot President Nikos Christodoulides visited Beirut to congratulate Aoun, marking the first visit by a foreign head of state to Lebanon following the election.
Aoun also received a congratulatory message from Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian, expressing “the Iranian government’s readiness to continue strengthening bilateral cooperation in all areas.”
Pezeshkian said he hoped the presidential elections would lead to political stability, economic growth, peace, and security for the people of Lebanon. He added that reinforcing stability and unity would thwart Israel’s ambitions in Lebanon’s territory.
Aoun’s initial meetings included a session with Prime Minister Najib Mikati, who, along with Foreign Minister Abdallah Bou Habib, is set to visit Syria on Saturday. This marks the first official Lebanese visit to Damascus since the fall of Bashar Assad.
Aoun asked Mikati to “continue managing caretaker duties until a new government is formed.”
Mikati said after the meeting that during the two years and two months since the end of former President Michel Aoun’s term, his government held 60 Cabinet sessions and issued more than 1,211 decisions and more than 3,700 decrees.
“We managed to navigate this phase and maintain the continuity of the state, particularly through its backbone — the army — under the leadership of Gen. Joseph Aoun and through our cooperation with him.”
Mikati explained that the discussion with the president focused on “the existing challenges and the content of the inaugural address, in which Aoun outlined the directions for any new government to implement the speech’s content through the necessary constitutional steps.”
Mikati said: “We talked about the situation in the south and the necessity for a swift and full Israeli withdrawal, reestablishing stability in the south and halting Israeli violations.”
He said the next government must be able to reflect the direction outlined by the president. “We are embarking on a new phase that requires everyone’s cooperation to exert serious efforts to save the nation. The broad outlines set by the president are very important and the leadership of this country has the will to act. Many of these objectives can be achieved quickly through an active government.”
Regarding Aoun’s insistence in his speech on “the state having a monopoly on bearing weapons,” Mikati said: “Do we expect the president of the country to say that weapons are legal for everyone? Do we expect a new government to say that weapons are legal for all citizens? Today, we are entering a new phase that starts from southern Lebanon, specifically south of the Litani River, to withdraw arms and ensure that the state will be present across all Lebanese territory, with stability beginning from the south.”
Aoun’s inaugural address on Thursday was widely welcomed in Lebanon, and across the Arab and international states. Leaders of political parties and economic bodies expressed support for the speech and its implementation.
Sami Gemayel, head of the Lebanese Kataeb Party, said: “His address is unprecedented in the past three decades, as all presidents came during the Syrian guardianship or when Hezbollah controlled decisions and no president was allowed to speak about the interest of his country.”
Gemayel pledged to “defend the speech, which fully represents us, and to stand by the president to realize his national project.”
A few hours after the election of the president, Israeli reconnaissance planes resumed violations of Lebanese airspace, starting from the south and reaching Beirut and its southern suburb, extending to Hermel on the border with Syria.
Meanwhile, Israeli forces continued their incursions into southern Lebanon, destroying border villages.
Aita Al-Shaab was subjected to artillery shelling, with Israeli forces conducting explosions and intensive sweep operations inside the town.
Movements of Israeli forces’ vehicles were observed between Tallat Al-Hamames and the adjacent Metula settlement at the Khiam-Wazzani triangle.
Once again, Israeli tanks and infantry forces conducted incursions in the town of Taybeh and opened fire on the remaining houses.
On Friday, a Lebanese Army unit entered the town of Aitaroun in Bint Jbeil, accompanied by a bulldozer to clear a dirt barrier previously erected by the Israeli Army at the village entrance.
The Lebanese Army is awaiting a signal from a five-member committee, tasked with overseeing the implementation of the ceasefire resolution, to redeploy in positions at the Al-Qouzah-Debel-Aita Al-Shaab triangle following the Israeli withdrawal.
On Thursday Israel heavily bombed the border town of Aita Al-Shaab, causing tremors deep in southern regions.
Israel also carried out operations to detonate houses in Kafr Kila, Houla, and the vicinity of Wazzani, with the Israeli military claiming it had bombed “five large ammunition warehouses.”
Israeli forces still have 15 days left of the 60-day deadline to fully withdraw from the area following the incursion on Oct. 1.
On Friday, Israeli military spokesperson Avichay Adraee renewed his warning to the residents of southern Lebanon via social media, advising them against “moving south to the line of villages from Mansouri in the west to Shebaa in the east until further notice. Anyone who moves south of this line is at risk.”
Civil defense personnel, in coordination with the army and UNIFIL, continue to search and survey the areas from which the Israeli army withdrew, looking for the bodies of Hezbollah fighters who were reportedly missing.


Stampede at central Damascus mosque kills four: health official

Updated 10 January 2025
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Stampede at central Damascus mosque kills four: health official

  • Ghina, who was at the mosque to attend Friday prayers, said she saw “people carrying an elderly woman with blood dripping from her face“
  • The Al-Watan newspaper said it happened during the distribution of free meals

DAMASCUS: A stampede at the landmark Umayyad Mosque in Syria’s capital on Friday killed four people, a Damascus health official told state media.
“Damascus Health Director Dr. Mohammed Akram Maatouq announced that the final toll from the unfortunate stampede that occurred today in the Great Umayyad Mosque and its surroundings is four dead and 16 injured,” a statement carried by state news agency SANA said.
Earlier, Damascus Governor Maher Marwan had told SANA that the deadly crush took place “during a civilian event at the mosque.”
A photographer who collaborates with AFP and was at the site of the stampede saw large crowds gathered near the mosque because free meals were being handed out.
Ghina, who was at the mosque to attend Friday prayers, said she saw “people carrying an elderly woman with blood dripping from her face,” adding that she appeared dead.
The Al-Watan newspaper said the stampede happened during the distribution of free meals by a social media personality.
A YouTuber called Chef Abu Omar, who has a restaurant in Istanbul, had earlier posted a video of preparations for the distribution of free meals at the Ummayyad Mosque.
Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani had visited the mosque in the morning.