30
exclusive
The HEALTH | NOVEMBER, 2018
PRINCESS DINA MIRED
Sharing her keynote
speech at the 3rd UN High
Level Meeting on
Non-Communicable
Diseases in New York.
An encounter with
HRH Princess Dina Mired
First Arab to be elected president of UICC, the princess speaks of her journey as a
mother to a cancer survivor and her role as a global advocate for cancer control
by NURUL AIN
HUDA ABDULLAH
ainhuda@revonmedia.com
“Now as the
president
of UICC and
as a mother
of a cancer
survivor, I
plan to work
tirelessly to
help reduce
the global
burden of
childhood
cancers,
until a
child in the
developing
world has
the same
chance to
be cured as
a child with
cancer in a
developed
country.”
At Rakan’s graduation are proud parents HRH Princess Dina Mired and
husband; HRH Prince Mired.
C
LAD in a black and white
dress with a black coat,
exuding regal presence
yet greeting me with a
wide warm smile, I was
entranced by her beauty
and strength and imme-
diately understood why she had such an
impact on anyone who had met her.
It was towards the end of her fifth day
in Malaysia this time around – constantly
photographed at seemingly endless
public engagements and media inter-
views since her arrival, was Her Royal
Highness Princess Dina Mired of Jordon.
Expecting grandeur since our last
interview a couple of years back, I was
taken aback at how far removed she still
is from the regal standoffish demeanor as
I met her after the closing of the recent
World Cancer Congress (WCC).
First Arab president of UICC
This is because of her dual role — a
princess and an activist in addition to
being a mother. Born Dina Mohammad
Khalifeh, she married HRH Prince Mired
bin Ra’ad in 1992 and soon became the
proud mother of three children; Princess
Shirin, Prince Rakan and Prince Jafar.
Princess Dina is also the first Arab
to be elected president of the Union for
International Cancer Control (UICC) for
the 2018-2020 term. The UICC is the larg-
est global organisation solely dedicated
to reducing the global cancer burden,
promoting greater equity and integrating
cancer control into the world health and
development agenda. It is comprised of
over 1000 organisations from 162 coun-
tries, making it the largest cancer-fighting
organisation in the world.
“My title as a ‘princess’ comes with
great responsibilities and my role as a
global advocate for cancer control and
non-communicable diseases is some-
thing I take very seriously. My other title
‘mother of a cancer survivor’ gives me the
privilege to help parents and caregivers
of cancer.”
“Although I may not have a medical
background, coming from the heart of
the developing world, and having led the
King Hussein Cancer Foundation (KHCF)
as director general for 15 years till June
2016, I have extensive proven experience
in addressing the challenges of cancer
and more importantly, in finding practical
solutions that can improve cancer care
and control in low and middle-income
countries.”
“Now as the president of UICC and
as a mother of a cancer survivor, I plan
to work tirelessly to help reduce the
global burden of childhood cancers,
until a child in the developing world has
the same chance to be cured as a child
with cancer in a developed country. I will
work to strengthen this valuable synergy
in order to find solid practical solutions
to help bridge the gap in cancer control
between countries in the developing and
developed world.”
Caregivers
When Dina’s second son Rakan was
diagnosed with Acute Lymphoblastic
Leukaemia (ALL) in 1997, Dina was thrust
with the role of a caregiver. At that time,
the family was living in England.
“We experienced a multitude of
emotions: shock, sadness, helplessness,
confusion and mostly fear of losing what
was most precious to us. We kept asking
ourselves: “Why did this happen to us?
How did we miss the signs?”
“There were lots of questions. After
the initial shock and lots of tears, we
quickly realised that we had to be strong
and focus on saving our child. So we
quickly kicked into action.”
After his diagnosis, Rakan began