At the start , the Ministry of Social Solidarity affirms its concern to guaranty the independence of civil society’s work and the freedom of its administrators in running operations and achieving their mission without intervention of the administrative authorities except within the limits allowed by the law and the constitution, in the pursuit of ensuring sustainability of the work of civil society and the preservation of civil society’s funds which are mainly donations from being misused , misappropriated, or used in activities other than the allowed ones. Within this framework we have been notified through different types of media, namely released articles by a number of major writers, and satellite channels broadcasting information about the existence of some financial, administrative and technical irregularities at the Children’s Cancer Hospital Foundation 57357.
Since the foundation was established by the Egyptian Association for Social and Cultural Development and the Association of Friends of the National Cancer Institute, AFNCI, (presently the Association of Friends of the National Cancer-free Initiative ) and since the Hospital is an important accomplishment and was built thanks to funds and donations of Egyptians and people from friendly Arab and Foreign nations in contribution to treating for free hundreds of children with cancer annually, the Ministry of Social Solidarity was keen to expose the truth about these allegations and assure that money donations were put to good use.
The Ministry saw it appropriate in view of the general public’s concern in the Media to be sure about the integrity of the financial and administrative position of the Foundation. As such, The Ministry formed an extended committee comprised of 17 experts, headed by the secretary of the state council, who is also the Ministry’s legal consultant, and included representatives of the Administrative Control Authority, the Central Auditing Organization and the Ministries of Education, scientific research, Health, Population and Communication and Information Technology. The committee worked for five months, audited thousands of documents and listened to workers of the Hospital and the Association. Another committee was formed to audit the work of the Egyptian Association of Social and Cultural Development and AFNCI as they receive donations in favor of the 57357 Foundation. Moreover, some of the members of the two organizations are initial founders of the 57357 Institution.
First the committee attested the invalidity of the allegations that included:
- The Hospital management conducting clinical trials on patients
- Using money donations by the Foundation in stock exchange speculation
- Exceeding the legal ratio of administrative expenses
- Having many consultants for the Hospital where it was found that it has only one consultant for security and governmental relations, and the number of employees is proportional to work needs according to international standards
- Evacuating patients’ rooms during filming the “red ribbon” series where the Association shared in its production as it provides cancer awareness which is one of the Association’s purposes.
Second: the committee found some administrative irregularities where the Foundation’s board of trusties was given legal time limit to regulate them as follows
- Licensing 57357 academy for healthcare sciences through concerned authorities
- Collecting donations through text messages which is not included in the Foundation’s fundraising channels license
- Making use of some medical equipment that was replaced by upgraded ones as they are still functioning and could be of great use for other purposes. it is still usable
- Licensing the Hospital’s physiotherapy department
- Initiating the procedures for the allotment of Alsabah Preparatory School in favor of the Hospital which will in return engage in developing educational services of the district directorate according to the cooperation protocol with the Ministry of Education
It is noteworthy that: - The Hospital’s Cairo branch receives about 3000 patients, and conducts 7500 surgeries annually. As such, the Hospital serves 60% of children with cancer in Egypt, in addition to the patients who receive treatment in the Hospital’s branch in Algharbeya
- The Hospital follows international treatment protocols, and 75% of its cases fall within the world’s overall survival rates
- The Hospital is committed to world quality control standards for its healthcare services, , and offers patients entertainment in different ways, art therapy, and physical rehabilitation. Moreover the different departments are committed to high sanitary standards and follow strict waste management and sterilization procedures. The principles of clinical nutrition are applied to benefit both patients and families. The Ministry of Social Solidarity will closely follow up on the work of the Foundation’s Board of trustees to rectify immediately any irregularities.