Palliative Care in the Arab World

This open-access book explores the growing role of palliative care in the Middle East, reflecting a global shift toward recognizing it as essential to public health and a fundamental right for patients with life-threatening illnesses. The World Health Organization (WHO) defines palliative care as a holistic approach addressing physical, emotional, and spiritual needs, extending beyond treatment to relieve suffering and improve quality of life. Delivered in hospitals, clinics, and homes, it engages families and communities through a multidisciplinary framework.
Each chapter highlights the dedication of healthcare professionals driving palliative care across the region, examining the challenges and successes they face. Country-specific sections showcase diverse models-hospital-based care, community programs, and home-based services-with home care emerging as an efficient and resource-friendly option. However, the book also addresses significant obstacles, including limited training for healthcare providers, gaps in pain management, restricted drug access, and inadequate communication skills and research. These challenges hinder the seamless integration of palliative care into comprehensive cancer care. The authors, distinguished leaders in their fields, offer insights into innovative programs and the path forward. The editor provides a framework that emphasizes the role of cultural context, settings, and resource availability in shaping the future of palliative care. This book serves both as a roadmap for the anticipated evolution of palliative care and as a tribute to the pioneers transforming it into a key element of cancer care in the Middle East. It stands as a valuable resource, reflecting the vision, dedication, and commitment of those working to provide compassionate, individualized care to patients with life-limiting illnesses.

Prof. Humaid Obaid Al-Shamsi is the Chief Executive Officer of Burjeel Cancer Institute in Abu Dhabi, UAE, President of the Emirates Oncology Society, Lead of the Gulf Cancer Society, Full Professor of Oncology at the Ras Al Khaimah Medical and Health Sciences University, Ras Al Khaimah, UAE, and an Adjunct Professor of Oncology at the College of Medicine, University of Sharjah. He is the first Emirati to be promoted as a professor in oncology in the UAE. He is also the Chairman for Colorectal Cancer in the MENA region, appointed by the prestigious National Comprehensive Cancer Network®. He is also the only member of Lung Cancer Policy Network in the MENA region that aims to advance lung cancer research and screening globally. He is the Chairman of the Oncology and Hematology Fellowship Training Program for the National Institute for Health Specialties in the United Arab Emirates. He is the only member in GCC in the WIN Consortium which is comprised of organizations representing all stakeholders in personalized cancer medicine globally.
He is board-certified in both internal medicine and oncology from the UK, USA (ABIM), and Canada (FRCPC). He has also been awarded the FRCP (London) in 2023 and FRCP (Glasgow) in 2024. He is the only physician in the UAE with a subspecialty fellowship certification and training in gastrointestinal oncology and the first Emirati to train and complete a clinical post-doctoral fellowship in pallia­tive care. He was an assistant professor at the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center between 2014 and 2017. He has published more than 140 peer-reviewed articles in JAMA Oncology, Lancet Oncology, The Oncologist, BMC Cancer, and many others. His area of expertise includes precision oncology and cancer care in the UAE. In 2016, he published with his group from MD Anderson the JCO paper describing a new distinct subgroup of CRC, NON V600 BRAF-mutated CRC. In 2022, he published the first book about cancer research in the UAE and also the first book about cancer in the Arab world, both of which were launched at Dubai Expo 2020. Cancer in the Arab World has been downloaded more than 450,000 times in its first 18 months of publication and is the ultimate source of cancer data in the Arab region. He also published the first comprehensive book about cancer care in the UAE which is the first book in UAE history to document the cancer care in the UAE with many topics addressed for the first time, e.g., neu­roendocrine tumors in the UAE. He is passionate about advancing cancer care in the UAE and the GCC and has made significant contributions to cancer awareness and early detection for the public using social media platforms. He is considered as the most followed oncologist in the world with over 300,000 subscribers across his social media platforms (Instagram, Twitter, LinkedIn, and TikTok). In 2022, he was awarded the prestigious Feigenbaum Leadership Excellence Award from Sheikh Hamdan Smart University for his exceptional leadership and research and the Sharjah Award for Volunteering. He was also named the Researcher of the Year in the UAE in 2020 and 2021 by the Emirates Oncology Society.
In May 2024, HH Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Vice President of the United Arab Emirates, awarded him the first place in the Emirati Talent Competitiveness Council (NAFIS) program for outstanding leadership in the pri­vate sector across all business and medical disciplines. Beside his clinical and administrative duties, he is engaged in education and various levels of research training for medical trainees to enhance their clinical and research skills. His mis­sion is to advance cancer care in the UAE and the MENA region and make cancer care accessible to everyone in need around the globe.
Dr. Neil Nijhawan currently works as a consultant in palliative medicine at Burjeel Medical City and is an adjunct senior clinical lecturer at Khalifa University Abu Dhabi and clinical associate professor at Gulf Medical University, Ajman. Neil is an eternal student at heart and completed his BSc in Biochemistry and PhD in Tropical Medicine before entering clinical training. He is currently studying for his MSc in End-of-Life Studies at the University of Glasgow. Neil was the first palliative care physician to be licensed by the Department of Health in Abu Dhabi and has worked at Burjeel Medical City since early 2020. He has been instrumental in setting up the palliative care service at Burjeel Medical City, which provides the most comprehensive and integrated palliative and supportive care service within the United Arab Emirates. He has an interest in both palliative care education and palliative care advocacy and is the Chairman of the Emirates Palliative and Supportive Care Working Group and the UAE representative to the WHO Eastern Mediterranean Region Palliative Care Expert Network and the International Association of Hospice & Palliative Care (IAHPC) advocacy focal point for the UAE