As part of its social responsibilities towards the society, ahlibank has inked a deal to support the initiatives of the National Association for Cancer Awareness (Naca), it was declared at a press conference yesterday. The deal includes the bank’s initiative to partially fund for Naca’s forthcoming Palliative Care Training Course (PCTC) for nurses from diverse regions of the country to take care of terminally ill patients including those suffering of oncology complications.

Ahlibank will also fund for the reach out programmes of the association’s Mobile Mammogram Unit (MMU) and its activities in reaching out to every woman in need of such care in the community to screen for abnormal breast lumps and cancer, said the officials. The conference was addressed by Yuthar bint Mohammed al Rawahiya, Founder and Managing Director of Naca, and a member of the Majlis Addawla.

Murtadha al Lawati, Head of Corporate Communications, Said Abdullah al Hatmi, Deputy General Manager and Head of Finance and Corporate Secretary and Abdullah al Jabri, Deputy General Manager, Head of Central Operations, ahlibank, was also present. In her speech, Al Rawahiya said: This PCTC, which is being held with the joint efforts of Naca in collaboration with the Ministry of Health (MoH) and other organisations like the Middle East Cancer Consortium and Oncology Nursing Society of America will train 40 nurses in providing palliative care and treatments to terminally ill patients within the comfort of their homes rather than wait at hospitals to get treated.
“This intensive and yet brainstorming course, which will comprise of an introductory and advanced courses in parallel is a brainchild of Naca and the 2nd of its kind to be conducted for nurses in national level”, said Al Rawahiya. She commended the private sector for their continuous support of the obligation the association. In this aspect, “Naca encourages all companies to engage their employees to have an internship with voluntary services organisations without deducting their salaries, similar to what other companies do to encourage the spirit of voluntarism. Among such rolemodels, which have for instance taken such an initiative on board their tasks include shell Oman and ar Ernst & Young’s company”, she
Likewise, in a statement, Abdulaziz al Balushi, Chief Executive Officer, ahlibank noted that: “There is a high need for palliative care among cancer patients and we are fully supportive of the efforts of Naca. It is crucial that nurses in Oman are suitably trained to take care of cancer patients. When treatment is not an effective option, appropriate palliative care can increase levels of comfort and improve the quality of life for patients and their families.
We also believe that Oman needs dedicated and continuous efforts to raise awareness about cancer and to educate the public about the advantages of regular tests and medical examinations that can lead to timely intervention, treatment and remission of the disease”, he remarked.
Also speaking on the occasion, Murtadha al Lawati said that: “At ahlibank we believe it is our moral obligation as a part of the Omani Society to support local initiatives that are aimed at advancement of the society and we will continue to demonstrate our commitment to support and improve the well-being of the society in whichever way we can. Likewise, as part of the bank’s Corporate Social Responsibility campaign that targets and encourages every woman, man and child in the Sultanate to learn more about this deadly disease, ahlibank has also launched a breast cancer awareness campaigns as part of its 2012 year plan”, said al Lawati.
In this concept, as part of the programme, the bank plans to host the founder of the association who is also one of the breast cancer survivors to give a lecture about her experience and Naca’s tasks and missions on advocating for early detection of cancer and for a better prognosis, Said al Hatmi.
“In spite of the fact that banks support such social initiatives, it’s not always the financial support that they offer. But the support can also be in the form of kind and mind in contributing to the cause and are highly appreciated”, stated Al Hatmi.