Cyprus leads the way – Supporting the treatment of up to 220 children with cancer in Burkina Faso, Africa – Cyprus expands its international humanitarian support for children with cancer
The ELPIDA Foundation for Children and Adolescents with Cancer and Leukemia announces the successful delivery to Burkina Faso, an African country with significant healthcare needs, of a new shipment of essential, life-saving chemotherapy medicines.
The shipment forms part of an international humanitarian initiative that has continued and expanded dynamically for the third consecutive year, with the aim of improving access to essential treatment for children with cancer in resource-limited countries.
The quantities of chemotherapy medicines delivered, combined with the expertise and technical support we provide for the proper implementation of treatment protocols, will contribute to:
a)the treatment of approximately80 children with Burkitt lymphoma, a highly aggressive and potentially fatal childhood cancer which, however, is largely curable when the appropriate medicines are administered promptly and the recommended treatment protocols are correctly implemented;
b)treatment support forup to an additional 140 children, including children with leukemias and other forms of cancer.
Professor Loizos G. Loizou, who conceived and created the Cyprus International Action Plan for Children and Adolescents with Cancer (Cy-IAPCC), stated:
“In many resource-limited countries, cure rates for children with cancer often remain below 30%, while in Cyprus and other developed countries they reach approximately 80–85%.
It is precisely this inequality that we are working to reduce, by providing not only medicines, but also training, expertise and support for local pediatric oncology services.
Our efforts are already being implemented in countries across Africa and are gradually expanding to countries in Asia.
No child should be denied the opportunity to be cured simply because they were born in a country where the necessary medicines are not available.
From Cyprus to Africa and Asia, we continue to turn solidarity into concrete action: medicines, treatment, training and hope for every child with cancer, wherever they may have been born.”
The initiative is implemented within the framework of the Cyprus International Action Plan for Children and Adolescents with Cancer (Cy-IAPCC) and the humanitarian activities of the ELPIDA Foundation, in close collaboration with the Groupe Franco-Africain d’Oncologie Pédiatrique (Franco-African Group for Pediatric Oncology, GFAOP), based in Paris.
The Republic of Cyprus has also made an important contribution to this initiative, within the framework of its Memorandum of Cooperation with the ELPIDA Foundation.
Professor Loizos G. Loizou expressed his warmest thanks to the President of the Republic of Cyprus, Nikos Christodoulides, the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Dr Constantinos Kombos, and CyprusAid for their tangible and continuous support for the ELPIDA Foundation’s international humanitarian activities.
He also expressed his warmest thanks to the Minister of Health, Neophytos Charalambides, the Directorate of Purchasing and Supplies of the Ministry of Health, as well as the Pharmaceutical Services, for their important contribution and excellent cooperation in the implementation of this mission.
