Basma Association 7 years Of Children Cancer Service

Damascus, (ST ) – Over the past seven years Basma Association  has shared children diagnosed with cancer and their families their daily live, following the path of their treatment and their success stories to overcome the disease and carry on their live. As a result, it has gained a leading position among Syrian NGOs.

Under the slogan “struggle to recover smile“,  Basma launched in 2006 a project  to improve the social and health condition of children with cancer in Syria, by providing psychological and financial support to them and their families during treatment. Moreover, The Association supports cancer units in hospitals by improving medical services offered to children and encouraging initiatives related to the establishment of new units, as well as increasing  public awareness about children cancer.

According to SuhairBoulad, chairman of Basma Association, the Association has achieved great success over the past period by providing  emotional and financial services for children diagnosed with cancer who consulted pediatric oncology unit at Peroni University Hospital that include

 20 internal beds, an action room, a consulting room, a game room and a pharmacy.

The association had signed with the Peroni hospital a memorandum of understanding in 2008 to equip a specialized unit to treat children with cancer and to run it for three years, subject to renewal. The matter of fact, this agreement was renewed in 2011 for three other years.

Boulad added, that the unit received 453 cases of cancer, between 2009 -2013 with a total cost of SP 59 million in 2013, the equivalent of five and a half million monthly fully defrayed by the Association. Moreover, Basma through its various programs continue to provide all treatments and drugs that are unavailable within the Children Hospital and Peroni Hospital pediatric oncology units.

The total number of registered children diagnosed with cancer enjoying  financial support and medical provision in Basma Association, reached the number of 3489 throughout  Syria, with a  total cost of SP 42 million  in 2013 with a monthly increase of 300 %  compared to 2011.

Syrian NGOs have demonstrated day after day, their presence and their ability to bring positive changes in the Syrian community. They have turned to a real partner of government institutions in improving civil services, yet how they develop depends on creating  a suitable environment to activate and expand their role.

N.H.Khider