Moved to Save Lives
Tania Jayatilaka learns the shattering events that shaped Union for Inter national Cancer Control president HRH Princess Dina Mired’s global fight against cancer
Tall, confident and immaculately put together, Her Royal Highness Princess Dina Mired of Jordan shares a vastly different picture of herself 21 years ago, when she made the heart-breaking discovery that her two-year-old son was suffering from acute lymphatic leukaemia. During a visit to England, Princess Dina couldn’t shake the feeling of unease when her son kept experiencing fever, vomiting and bruising on his legs. Several visits to the emergency room proved to be of little use, and when she called her family doctor back home in Jordan, he advised her to get a blood test for her son. “During those days in England, you couldn’t just ask for a blood test, you had to have been referred. I went without an appointment to the National Health Service clinic and said I’d pay for a blood test, which was also unheard of then,” Princess Dina says. “The doctors kept telling me I needed an appointment which I didn’t have. My tears just started rolling down—i knew something was wrong with my son, but I didn’t know what exactly was happening. “An 18-year-old student who had overheard me, then offered me his appointment.” The family was eventually referred to Edinburgh Hospital where a young doctor diagnosed her son’s condition. Shock and disbelief gave way to anguish and anxiety, as Princess Dina was soon faced with troubling questions about the future and the kind of action she needed to take to save her young son’s life. Back home in 1997, the taboo surrounding cancer was great. It wasn’t talked about openly in Jordan, and the devastating news was met with a mixture of despair and (for some members of the general public) a resigned air that the Princess was ‘still young enough to have another child.’ “It’s horrific to hear something like that, but I understand—the thought process during those days was that cancer was the end,” says Princess Dina. “Obviously I was one of the lucky few to go abroad and to be able to provide our son the life-saving treatment he needed. “But that’s not the case for millions of parents in the developing world, who neither have access to care nor the finances to pay for the treatment.” Not even Princess Dina herself could have foreseen the day that would change her life so dramatically, along with the lives of thousands who would eventually have access to better healthcare in Jordan—thanks to her ongoing advocacy for cancer control and phenomenal fundraising efforts. Drawing on her own experience as the mother of a cancer survivor, Princess Dina spent a significant portion of time with mothers in similar situations at the King Hussein Cancer Foundation, where she held the post of director-general for 16 years. “The first thing I do when I see mothers at the centre is to tell them that ‘I’m a mother of a cancer survivor’. “I also tell them to ‘listen to the doctors, understand the disease of your child and educate yourself, so you can be the best advocate for your son or daughter. “I always had my file and excel sheets with
me so I could give a full report on my son whenever the doctor came. I felt that I could do at least something—one of the things that cancer does is make you feel like you have no control over anything.” With Princess Dina at the helm, The King Hussein Cancer Foundation went from a non-saving institution once known as the ‘Hope Centre’ to an internationally-renowned life-saving institution that now offers a good chance for recovery to the people of Jordan and others in the region. As one of the most prominent advocates for cancer control and non-communicable diseases, Princess Dina was instrumental in promoting early detection and breast-cancer screening for women in Jordan; becoming the honorary chairperson of the Jordan Breast Cancer Programme in 2006. In 2011, she was chosen to deliver the keynote speech on behalf of civil society at the very first United Nations High-level Meeting on NCDS. A year earlier, she was invited to be an ambassador for the Union for International Cancer Control (UICC), the largest cancer-fighting organisation in the world and the organisers of the prestigious World Cancer Congress. For the past two years, Princess Dina has been hard at work as president-elect of the UICC. This month, she’ll make history as the first Arab Muslim, non-medical professional to be elected president of the UICC ahead of the World Cancer Congress hosted, for the first time ever, by Malaysia and co-organised by the National Cancer Society of Malaysia. Princess Dina smiles warmly as she quickly adds, “I can’t wait to start my work right here in Malaysia.”
“I felt that I could do at least something—one of the things that cancer does is make you feel like you have no control over anything”