Once again the holy month is gathering us around the cause of our children with cancer
With the start of Ramadan, we wish all our charity partners a blessed month of fasting. Thanks to your faithful continuous support throughout the year and amid harsh economic conditions, we are still able to be committed to our mission and resume the journey of providing the best quality care for free to our children, raising survival rates, and eliminating waiting lists.
With profound gratitude, comes the need to share with you all what was achieved since last Ramadan thanks to your solidarity and generosity.
Throughout last year, the number of patients coming to the Hospital to continue their treatment exceeded 18 thousand cases. We were able to record an average over-all survival rate of 71.7%
With the challenges the whole world is confronted with currently, we decided not to depend on donations as a unique source of income. We started the implementation of a number of projects that will offer additional income to cover operation expenses. Within this context we launched the cyberknife unit, where the cyberknife is a robotic radio-surgical device that is considered a leap in cancer treatment in Egypt. It offers high precision treatment for deep seated tumors that are hard to reach, with the least possible sessions, while preserving surrounding tissue. It is useful in treating brain, vertebral column, pituitary gland and other cancers. We are about to complete the works for the installation of the proton therapy equipment, which is a new achievement for Hospital 57357. It is a radiotherapy device that offers higher efficiency treatment and less risk and side effects than traditional radiotherapy. With these projects we will follow the service surplus policy which stipulates the offering of their services to adults for a revenue that will be used to ensure the continuity of the Hospital’s operation.
Currently we are working on a project to expand the capacity of the bone marrow transplantation, BMT unit, which is considered a definitive cure for multiple types of high risk cancers which are prone to relapse such as leukemia, adrenal tumors, brain and eye tumors. Statistics indicated a significant improvement in survival outcomes for children who underwent BMT. According to our statistics, we can currently offer this treatment to one third of the patients who need it because we do not have enough equipped BMT rooms. Currently, the unit consists of 9 rooms, each serves 6 patients annually, which adds up to 54 child annually.
In the field of neurosurgeries, the Hospital carried out 12 thousand complex microsurgeries, with an over-all five year survival rate of 88%, 98% in benign cases and 75% in malignant cases.
Within the framework of 57357’s dedication to share its leading experience in clinical pharmacy and support Egyptian and Arab pharmacist’s qualifications, it started the training of the fifth cohort of the resident pharmacist program, with the participation of 17 trainees from Saudi Arabia, Egypt and Jordan. The program is accredited by the American Society of Health System Pharmacists, ASHP, 57357 being the first Hospital in Africa to obtain this accreditation. We also pursue the pediatric oncology fellowship program in cooperation with Dana Farber Cancer Center, Boston Children’s Hospital, Harvard University.
The Hospital is committed to carrying on the continuous upgrade of its equipment in all departments to ensure the high quality service offered to our children.
In the field of research, the Hospital published many studies in major scientific magazines during the past year including one about improving the treatment methods of neuroblastoma, another systematic study to evaluate the medications of leukemia relapse in terms of efficiency and cost, and a study tackling stem cells ability for treating Corona virus in humans and treating bronchitis in birds.
We pledge to exert all efforts to continue offering the high quality service and maintain our leadership and distinction, as we consider it a mission that God entrusted us with.
We trust that your love and compassion for our children with cancer will never cease to drive you to carry on supporting our mission of providing free quality care to the children and improving their survival rate.