World Cancer Day

Today is World Cancer Day – a time to reflect on HOPE’s battle to fight cancer in China, Poland and beyond.  Today is the perfect time to pay tribute to the many talented medical professionals at the Shanghai Children’s Medical Center which HOPE helped develop more than 15 years ago.

There, a young patient named Fang Fang was admitted to the SCMC’s Oncology Center one year ago with acute leukemia. Her disease required weekly chemotherapy for two years along with antibiotics and regular blood sampling to monitor her blood counts. Since the central line catheter is not the medical standard in China, Fang Fang had previously had numerous peripheral IVs.

It wasn’t until Fang Fang was in the care of HOPE-trained medical staff that she had a central line catheter inserted into her body. Central line catheterization had become the new standard of care for children receiving chemotherapy treatments at the SCMC. Thankfully now Fang Fang’s treatments – and treatments for many other children – are much more comfortable.

Fang Fang is just one of the more than 14,000 patients who receive treatment at the SCMC’s Oncology Center each year. HOPE helped develop this state-of-the-art cancer center, a 142-bed facility that opened in 2013, which includes a research center, a palliative care program and a psychosocial support network.

HOPE is also helping to improve children’s cancer care in Poland. At the University Children’s Hospital of Krakow, our training program for pediatric health professionals is dedicated to improving the quality of pediatric cancer care, as well as improving the support networks for cancer patients and their families.