Sharjah Lab in UK to help treat, prevent NCDs
sharjah — His Highness Dr Sheikh Sultan bin Mohammed Al Qasimi, Supreme Council Member and Ruler of Sharjah, and his wife, Sheikha Jawaher bint Mohammed Al Qasimi, Founder and Royal Patron of the Friends of Cancer Patients (FoCP), have inaugurated the ‘Sharjah Laboratory’ at the Francis Crick Institute in London.
The Sharjah Lab will house 1,250 leading scientists from a variety of disciplines working together to understand why diseases develop and find new ways to prevent and treat non-communicable diseases (NCDs), including cancer.
It was fully funded by Sheikha Jawaher, who donated £500,000 to the Cancer Research UK to support its work and help train human resources in order for them to move into a new phase of the treatment of NCDs and curb their prevalence.
The donation comes as part of her efforts to support programmes, initiatives and action plans to improve treatment for NCDs, including cancer. The Francis Crick Institute is run by 1,250 scientists and researchers as well as 250 executives representing 70 countries from across the world.
Dr Sheikh Sultan praised the efforts made by scientists and researchers to come up with effective therapies for diseases affecting societies across the world. He underlined that these efforts must
Diseases that once plagued populations can now be easily treated, and we need to do the same for cancer. We are confident that this can be achieved through science, as long as we continue to support innovative medical research.” Sheikha Jawaher bint Mohammed Al Qasimi
be purely for human benefit, free of financial incentives or economic objectives, to protect people from the diseases that claim their lives and hamper their involvement in the development and wellbeing of their communities.
Dr Sheikh Sultan also underlined that the Sharjah Laboratory “will serve as a scientific beacon that will utilise and invest its research capacity to find the underlying causes of serious NCDs, cancer in particular”.
He noted that Sharjah will support the laboratory, not only financially, but also with highly qualified human resources that are able to realise its objectives.
Meanwhile, Sheikha Jawaher said the facility will help follow up scientific developments that move at an ever-increasing pace with new possibilities every day. New research that may help beat cancer can be closer than we think, she said.
“Over the past hundred years, we have seen that science has unlimited horizons. Diseases that once plagued populations can now be easily treated or even prevented, and we need to do the same for cancer. We are confident that this can be achieved through science, as long as we continue to support innovative medical research. And if we do so, NCDs and cancers will be easily treated, saving millions of lives and substantial state budgets,” Sheikha Jawaher said.
Sharjah recently launched the ‘Sharjah Declaration on NCDs towards 2030’, which was endorsed by 230 international experts. It will also host the Second Global NCD Alliance Forum, which is scheduled to take place on December 9-11.
The £650 million institute, adjacent to the British Library, has various sections and facilities spreading over 1 million square feet.
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