Scots MP’s shock at 20-year-old breast cancer treatment
Medics update techniques to care for patients in Palestine
A SCOTS surgeon-turned-MP has praised a partnership she helped set up that has moved treatment of women with breast cancer in Palestine forward by decades.
Dr Philippa Whitford said patient care was at least 20 years behind until the Scottish-Palestinian “medical bridge” project began two years ago.
Speaking ahead of today’s Wear It Pink day, Whitford, a consultant breast cancer surgeon until her election, told how she witnessed such shortages on a trip to Gaza that she decided to help.
She said: “I was shocked to find that, regardless of the size or stage of disease, every single woman I met had undergone a radical mastectomy.
“This is an approach that had not been the routine practice in the UK for more than 20 years and it had left half of them suffering with severe arm swelling known as lymphoedema.”
In 1991-92, Whitford spent two years volunteering with Medical Aid for Palestinians as a breast cancer surgeon alongside her GP husband Hans Pieper, who volunteered as an anaesthetist.
She returned 25 years later, after being elected SNP MP for Central Ayrshire in 2015, to find limited stocks of chemotherapy drugs and the lack of local radiotherapy services.
She also learned that Israel’s frequent denial of exit permits prevented patients travelling to Palestinian hospitals, such as the Augusta Victoria Hospital in East Jerusalem, outside Gaza, where services are available.
In 2017, 54 patients from Gaza died after missing scheduled medical appointments, 46 of whom had cancer.
The “medical bridge” began in September 2017 and involves teams of radiologists, oncologists, cancer nurses and surgeons from Scotland who travel to Palestine during their holidays.
They perform breast cancer operations together and teach the latest techniques used in the UK.
Whitford said: “The progress in just two years has been remarkable, particularly in Gaza.
“Women are now properly diagnosed before surgery, allowing better planning of their treatment. Surgical practice has also changed, with breast conservation replacing mastectomy for patients with smaller tumours.”
Whitford added: “The UK Government must do more through international development aid, and particularly diplomatic pressure, to end the closure of Gaza and ensure all Palestinians can access the kind of quality healthcare we take for granted.”