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Awali Hospital’s head of surgical department, Dr Tariq Hameed, believes that Dr Robert Nagourney’s chemotherapy study, which creates tailored treatments, is a revolutionary method that will benefit cancer patients around the world.
Dr Tariq had met Dr Robert last year in the kingdom to discuss Nagourney’s Functional Profiling technique.
He said: “We are all aware that to treat cancer, many resort to chemotherapy after surgery. However, we also all know that chemotherapy works in about one-third of the cases. It doesn’t work in two-thirds of them and not only does it cost a lot but it also causes a lot of misery for the patients.
“The other issue is we don’t know which one-third it will work on and which two-thirds it won’t. Dr Robert’s approach is to treat it as an infection. Basically, when you have an infection, you culture the bacteria and then you see which antibiotic is going to work on it or not. Dr Robert is using that principle for cancer cells.
“If it works out, it will make a huge difference. People will know which particular chemotherapy agent their cancer best responds to and use that treatment instead of spending money on something they don’t know will work, whilst suffering from side effects.”
The first case was sent to Dr Robert two months ago. The Institute will then analyse it and send back the report. “Dr Robert has been conducting this study for the past couple of years and has had some great success,” said Dr Tariq. “Samples have been sent from hospitals in Brazil and now, I believe, Bahrain is the second country to use his particular approach. It’s a very novel approach and I am totally convinced that if it works out, it will make a huge difference.”
Aside from supporting Dr Robert’s study, Dr Tariq, a consultant surgeon as well, has moulded young medical minds and continues to run the Awali Hospital into the popular facility it is today as well as care for His Majesty the King… a major feat he never dreamed of when he first joined the health industry.
The father-of-four, who is originally from Kashmir, had moved to the kingdom in 1960 with his father Abdul Hameed, who was in the Royal Air Force, and mum, at the time.
Dr Tariq was one of the top students at Pakistan Urdu School who fancied being a pilot one day. However, his high-flying aspirations did not take flight.
He was supposed to go back to Pakistan to join the Air Force but a war broke out between India and Pakistan and his mother was not keen on him joining at that point. However, one of his uncles is a doctor and suggested that he go into medicine. He completed Grade 7 in Bahrain and then went to Pakistan to continue his studies. He completed his medical degree in Lahore and then returned to Bahrain in 1979.
He began working in the Bahrain Defence Force Royal Medical Services Military Hospital (BDF) in March 1979 as a junior doctor.
He continued his stint with the BDF until 1985 where he then was sent to accomplish his post-graduation from the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland, Dublin.
He received his fellowship the same year and then did three years of post fellowship work there. He came back to BDF in 1988 where he was appointed as a consultant.
Dr Tariq then headed the emergency department for about 10 years and was made the head of surgery for another 10 years.
He was BDF’s chief of medical staff for two years and the head of training for another two years. He became the chief medical officer of Awali Hospital in 2014. He was also in the army from 1988 until 2014 and retired as a major general. It was during his service with BDF and the military that he ended up being the personal surgeon for the then-Crown Prince, who is now His Majesty King Hamad. It started with a hunting trip and the rest was history. Dr Tariq said: “I used to accompany His Majesty on different trips. He is such a gentleman and a great person. We had such a wonderful time together. I never felt like I was working for somebody who was going to be the future king of Bahrain. He is so friendly.”
Dr Tariq was also an assistant professor at Arabian Gulf University where he taught surgery to around 3,000 students from 1988 to 2014.
“A lot of people working now in Bahrain as consultants in different hospitals were actually my students,” said Dr Tariq.
Meanwhile, he has grown the hospital from strength to strength. “It was a very small place,” he said. “They didn’t have the set up for a 24-hour clinic. We had no emergency room and the hospital bed occupancy was about four per cent. They used to see perhaps 20 to 30 patients a day and they used to conduct maybe about 30 surgeries a month.
“Since I’ve joined, we’ve added about 16 more specialties to the seven or eight existing ones, making it a fully-fledged hospital. We are seeing roughly about 200 patients a day and our bed occupancy has gone up to almost 50 per cent which is amazing. Our surgeries have also gone up from 30 to about 110 per month.
“This hospital is a wonderful place including friendly staff with personable approaches. We have achieved a good balance of providing personal care as well as full care. Back then, this hospital was known for obstetric care. Other than that, this hospital wasn’t known for anything else. But now, we are doing almost all kinds of surgeries. We have two of the best eye specialists here, two or three of the best orthopedic surgeons here and the emergency department takes in around 50 odd patients a day.”
Awali Hospital also participates and stages various activities to suit international and local campaigns. Last year, for example, the hospital passed around coupons offering people free mammograms and ultra sound check-ups for October’s Breast Cancer Awareness month. “We have been doing this for the past two years,” said Dr Tariq. “Not only do we have an ultra sound and mammogram machine at the hospital, but we also have a special new automated breast ultra sound machine. I presume we are the only hospital which actually has it. It’s used for certain women with dense breasts.”
