Pictured (left to right) Mr. Feroz Agad, Chairman and CEO of SAH Global (left) and Mr. Mike Clark CEO of QIB (UK)
London — August 7, 2011 – SAH Global have appointed QIB (UK) plc as financial advisor and arranger for SAH Qatar Proton, the first Proton Therapy cancer treatment centre in the Middle East which is to be established in Qatar.
Although a private sector initiative, it is expected that SAH Qatar Proton will be a major contribution to Qatar’s QR 2.204billion ($605 million) National Cancer Strategy launched earlier this year by Sheikha Mozah Bint Nasser Al-Missned, Vice Chairperson of the Qatar Supreme Council of Health. SAH Qatar Proton will help to realise the National Cancer Strategy’s aim of making Qatar a global leader in cancer services by 2016 and will mean that Qataris will no longer need to go abroad. In fact, people from the Gulf region and further afield will come to Doha for Proton Therapy.
SAH Global was granted permission to build the first Proton Therapy centre in the Middle East in June of 2010 by the Qatar Supreme Council of Health. The project will be able to treat up to 2200 patients a year and will also serve as a training and educational centre for physicians and therapists from around the world. Feroz Agad, Chairman and CEO of SAH Global said, “There are only a handful of doctors in the world who can deliver Proton Therapy treatment, and SAH Global’s highly qualified team of Proton Therapy medical experts hail from prestigious Proton Therapy centres such as Harvard and Indiana Proton Centres. Together our team has over 80 years of combined experience and has been responsible for commissioning five Proton Therapy centres across two continents. In keeping with SAH Global’s commitment to help further the Emir HH Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani and HRH Sheikha Mozah Bint Nasser Al-Missned’s vision of education and knowledge transfer in the region, we are actively looking to recruit additional local personnel to be trained by our team in order to staff our Proton Therapy centres in the region.”
Mr Agad further added, “This flagship Proton Therapy centre in Qatar is the first in a number of critical steps in our global cancer strategy. We at SAH Global plan to build a network of Proton Therapy centres in the region and beyond, with SAH Qatar Proton as our prime centre. We are also in discussions with governments and potential local partners throughout the GCC and Europe for our satellite centres and we envisage this to be a long term relationship between SAH Global and our strategic partners, including QIB (UK).”
Mike Clark, Chief Executive Officer of QIB (UK) added, “We are delighted to act as advisor and arranger for SAH Global for the establishment of SAH Qatar Proton. The Qatar National Cancer Strategy is a vital component of Qatar’s healthcare vision and SAH Qatar Proton will be an important step forward in the fight against cancer, not just in Qatar but throughout the Middle East. This is the latest in a series of transactions where we are utilizing our presence in London, the global financial centre, and combining our leading market position, heritage, and history in Qatar, to bring landmark projects to the market.”
In January 2010, SAH Global signed a landmark agreement with the Qatar National Cancer Society (QNCS) through which the QNCS will refer Qatari patients qualifying for Proton Therapy to SAH Global’s medical tourism arm, SAH Care. While the Proton Therapy centre in Doha is being completed, SAH Care arranges and coordinates end-to-end treatment at preferential rates through its network of partner Proton Therapy centres around the world. In this way, SAH care is able to deliver significant cost savings and can reduce waiting times (which can otherwise exceed three months in many cases) to only a few weeks for patients throughout the Gulf region and beyond. It is expected that SAH Care’s quality of service will be further enhanced upon completion of SAH Qatar Proton.