Combating Cancer with Nutrition

With a growing body of evidence linking nutrition to the treatment of cancer, there is hope yet that “the disease of the century” can be eradicated. But although using food as a solution might be simple, not to mention affordable, we are still years away from coming up with the science to back it up. Renowned nutritionist Dr. Cherifa Aboul Fettouh is taking the step in Egypt, last month launching the nation’s first foundation addressing health dieting as a therapeutic tool to treat and combat cancer. The “Envision” initiative aims to explore the relationship between modern day clinical nutrition and its effects on the cancer process, acting as an interface between the medical and research sectors and civil society institutions.

“The idea began when I was in a conference in Gustave Roussy [one of the world’s leading cancer research institutes] last September. And for the first time, physicians were talking about the role of nutrition in treating cancer … not as a supplement or to boost immunity but as an actual treatment,” Aboul Fettouh tells Egypt Today.

Such research is already underway in France, America, Germany and Japan, Aboul Fettouh adds. “So where is Egypt in this? Do we always have to take the results of research from others? Why don’t we work on this research as well, since we desperately need it? I started thinking what we can do in Egypt to arrive to that.”

Envision was granted the official status as an Egyptian civil society organization specialized in development in November. Actress and cofounder of the foundation Youssra headlined the launch event and first annual conference under the title “Nutrition and Cancer: A Rational Way of Thinking.” It hosted the minsters of social solidarity and local development, alongside numerous public figures, physicians and civil socity institutions. “We are generous in everything [in Egypt], everything but scientific research. We need to put more money to become pioneers in scientific research,” United Nations Goodwill Ambassador Youssra says, adding that through the foundation “we will learn a lot” about eating right and living right to combat cancer, “the disease of the century.”

Minister of Social Solidarity Ghada Waly agrees. “This foundation introduces Egypt to a new science and intellect … Elements of success are all present, the most important of which is passion,” She said, urging the founders to expand the organization’s mission to other Arab countries, such as Syria, Yemen and Libya, which suffer a critical lack of medical infrastructure. “The idea to treat this disease with nutrition would have a lot of impact in a country with limited economic resources … We need to have a plan from the start for Egypt to adopt and export the idea of nutritional therapy to the whole region,” Waly recommends.



Articulating the vision and strategy of the initiative, Managing Director of Phoenix IHSCS and Vice President of Envision Foundation Dina Omar highlights the three major aspects of the foundation’s mission, stressing that the initiative primarily aims to coordinate between different research institutions to facilitate their role and increase the impact of their work. Envision, Omar explains, focuses mainly on the “prevention” of cancer, working on three phases: spreading public and community awareness about cancer and nutrition by reaching out to Egyptian housewives and average citizen; edu
cating professionals and doctors to incorporate these ideas in their interaction with patients; and finally, advancing scientific research by coordinating between different entities and analyzing the data on a larger scale.

“This is the first annual event and it will be held every year to assess what has been done, with transparency,” Omar says, adding that a quarterly plan will be published on the foundation’s website, including financing and budgeting.

The first mandate of the foundation. as well as UN representatives, is “to place Egypt on the world map of scientific research,” Dr. Ahmed Aboul Fettouh, dental consultant in periodontics and oral implantology, said at the conference. “This is the first institution in the Middle East to address cancer and nutrition,” he added. The two other aspects are to “establish factories specialized in this kind of nutrition … which will set a first in the whole world” and finally “building a generation that will pioneer new ideas,” he explained.

One cancer survivor who has personally seen the great influence of good nutrition throughout her treatment is Yasmine Geith, who sent a message of hope at the end of the conference. “Never lose hope; and when you think your life is coming to an end, sometimes those endings are just a beginning of a better life.”