The Children’s Cancer Hospital Egypt 57357 was the most important project that AFNCI initiated and developed. It is the largest children’s cancer treatment center in the world in terms of capacity. It is not just a Hospital, but a model of change and a comprehensive institution that is fight pediatric cancer by offering free high quality medical care to all patients without discrimination.
Hospital 57357 is setting up new standards for free of charge healthcare. The 57357 institution introduced novel fundraising concepts to guaranty the Hospital sustainability and preserve its standing as a unique center for healthcare, research and training. But most importantly, these concepts benefited the entire civil society in Egypt and were adopted by a host of other charitable organizations.
The beginnings:
Planning for Hospital 57357 began in 1998 with the formal registration of the Association of Friends of the National Cancer Institute (AFNCI) (presently the Association of Friends of the National Cancer-free Initiative) as a non-profit committed to improving the lives of cancer patients at the NCI through facility development, upgrade and training, which contributed to improving over-all survival rates of children with cancer in the Institute.
The departed professor Dr. Reda Hamza, Dean of the NCI at 1995, was the first president of the Association. Along with a group of young doctors he thought of establishing a hospital for pediatric cancer that provides free services to contribute to raising recovery rates of children with cancer.
A group of patriotic businessmen supported the Hospital project since its inception through the Association (AFNCI) which was responsible for tenders, design, constructions, electro- mechanical works, internal decoration, equipment and fundraising. In 2004, the 57357 foundation was instituted to oversee the operations and sustainability and development of the Hospital.
The Hospital is seeking to introduce change to the concept of free healthcare and and to raise cure rates of children with cancer to reach the world rates of 80- 85%. Currently, after 11 years of operation the Hospital is recording an average over-all survival rate of 73%.
AFNCI is still supporting 57357 through participating in funding its new expansion project and its education and training programs. In collaboration with Egyptian Cancer Network, ECN in the USA, AFNCI is sponsoring the joint pediatric oncology fellowship program between 57357 and Dana Farber Boston Children’s, USA, which at creating a new generation of specialized, well trained physicians capable of changing and improving healthcare provided to cancer patients. Whenever the need arises, the Association provides the Hospital with its needs of safe blood from its blood bank, in addition to supporting different training programs for pharmacists, such as clinical pharmacy and pharmacogenomics. It also sponsors the travelling costs of physicians and scientists to and from Egypt for scientific meetings and knowledge exchange. https://www.57357.org
