About 70,000 patients visit hospitals under Hamad Medical Corp (HMC) annually for treatment of dermatological conditions, an HMC official has disclosed.
“The Department of Dermatology at Rumailah Hospital, Al Wakra Hospital, Al Khor Hospital and The Cuban Hospital see around 70,000 patients per year with several dermatology issues. The most frequent of such conditions are eczema — especially atopic eczema, acne, psoriasis, vitiligo and skin cancers,” said Prof Dr Martin Steinhoff, chairman, Department of Dermatology and Venereology, HMC.
“Eczema is number one skin diagnosis in Qatar. We see more than 10,000 patients annually and probably the number could be much higher. We have now very good systematic treatments for these patients. We are planning to establish some awareness days for eczema, psoriasis, vitiligo, acne, skin cancer among others. For the future, the plan is to have more awareness days and also more interaction with the public to provide information and education about skin diseases and how to prevent them,” said Dr Steinhoff.
“We see more than 3,000 patients with psoriasis per year. On a worldwide level, 4% of the population has psoriasis and we estimate that in Qatar, the prevalence is a bit higher about 5% as it is often associated with metabolic syndromes and diabetes. We see several families here with psoriasis and we are currently trying to bring the best new treatments to the patients. We have also developed an education programme for the patients on how to prevent the disease, how to live better with the disease and get the treatment sooner,” explained Dr Steinhoff.
“We have observed that there is an increase of acne in adults more than average although we don’t know the reason. However, we are currently doing a project to understand better what kind of trigger factors are responsible for that, whether it is something to do with nutrition or dust or any other environmental factors,” noted Dr Steinhoff.
As for the case of skin cancer, Dr Steinhoff said: “We have inter-disciplinary, multidisciplinary diagnostic meeting every Wednesday where we discuss each case of skin cancer. The team includes oncologist, radiologist, pathologists. We also have a sub-speciality clinic where we monitor the patient over years.”
The official said HMC is planning at the moment to develop the department into a state-of-the art one at the international level.“We are establishing a new therapy like laser therapies, ultra sound for skin diagnostics and venous diseases. We will also establish new forms of treatment of frequent diseases including psoriasis, atopic eczema and also in autoimmune diseases and skin cancers,” he added.