St. Jude's Children Cancer Research Hospital Partners With AKU, NICH & IH To Expand Treatment Services

Childhood cancer care in Pakistan is expected to significantly improve as US-based St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, a global leader in children's cancer care and research, has launched a series of partnerships aimed at enhancing the standard of oncology services in the country

KARACHI, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 25th Apr, 2019 ) :Childhood cancer care in Pakistan is expected to significantly improve as US-based St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, a global leader in children's cancer care and research, has launched a series of partnerships aimed at enhancing the standard of oncology services in the country.

According to an announcement local partners in the alliance with St. Jude Children's Research Hospital include Indus Hospital and the National Institute of Child Health while a memorandum of understanding has been inked with Aga Khan University's medical college only the other day.

As per the MoU signed by Dr Carlos Rodriquez Galindo, executive director at St Jude's Children Research Hospital and Dr Adil Haider, dean of AKU medical college nurses, paediatric oncology specialists and intensive care unit staff at AKU's teaching hospital would benefit from specialised courses as well as hands-on training at the Memphis-based research hospital.

The partnership will see research faculty's participation in initiatives to generate new knowledge in the field and to develop collaborative projects with partner institutions in the global network.

Staff at the AKU will further work with the Pakistan Society of Paediatric Oncology to extend the benefits of the global partnership to public, private and charity hospitals with paediatric oncology units in the country.

Professor Zehra Fadoo, head of oncology services at AKU teaching hospital, highlighting relevance of the arrangement said the partnership is for all children in Pakistan.

Specialists at AKU and other major hospitals of the country were said to see some of the most complicated late-stage cases of childhood cancer cases.

"We are keen to collaborate on initiatives that will raise the standard of oncology services across Pakistan," she was quoted to have said.

AKU was also said to have entered into a similar agreement with Fred Hutch, another global leader in cancer research and care, in March this year.

Partnership between local oncology centres and those pertaining to first world were said to be extremely important as an estimated 80 per cent of the world's paediatric cancer patients live in low and middle income countries. The MoU is in line with the University's commitment to achieve targets under goal 3 of the Sustainable Development Goals which seeks a one-third reduction in cancer mortality and morbidity by 2030.

Dr Galindo emphasising that no child should die in the prime of their life maintained that partnerships with local institutions will play a crucial role in realising the goal of enhancing paediatric cancer survival rates around the world.

Majority of children in the developing world still lose their lives to cancers that can be effectively treated, he said mentioning that 80 per cent of the world's paediatric cancer cases occur in low and middle income countries.

St Jude's Global has built a network of regional partnerships spanning over 50 countries to promote self-sufficiency and the sharing of knowledge, skills and best practices in paediatric cancer under aUS$ 100 million initiative.