"The National Institute of Child Health (NICH) is further improving its services for childhood cancer treatment in the coming years and, for this purpose, last year NICH added the Flowcytometry facility to its oncology laboratory for accurate diagnosis of cancer type. It is expected that construction of the cytogenetic laboratory will start next month and, hopefully, the building shall be completed by the end of the year."
This was stated by Professor Nizam-ul-Hasan, President of Child Aid Association (CAA), on the occasion of 6th anniversary of the establishment of pediatric oncology and BMT unit at the Institute, organised by Child Aid Association. The unit was opened on April 1, 1999, and is supported by Child Aid Association since.
The association raises funds through donations by philanthropists, mostly Pakistanis, both from home and abroad.
The APPNA department of Cytogenetics of the Texas Children Hospital, Houston, USA, is providing technical support for the laboratory. This laboratory will be the first of its kind in a public sector hospital providing further accuracy in identification of various cancers and congenital malformations, which are common in poor population of country. Dr Abdul Aziz is providing honorary services to run the Flowcytometry facility.
Professor Kazi Shakoor, a former director of JMPC, Karachi, and Professor of Pathology has also offered his services as histo-pathologist to the NICH laboratory.
Professor Nizam welcomed the children patients, their parents and other guests.
He said, "When we decided to start this pediatric oncology and BMT unit at NICH in 1997, most of our well-wishers said that we were working for a lost cause as, in the end, all patients would lose their life to this dreadful disease."
"But our dream came true on April 1, 1999. Since then, about 1500 child patients have been registered at the unit. And, on an average, 20 new patients are admitted to the unit every month for treatment from all over Pakistan."
He thanked the staff of NICH, who serve the underprivileged sick children of the society with dedication and care. He also thanked the donors who have the same feelings for the underprivileged of the country and because of these philanthropists this unit is a success.
The annual get-together provides the opportunity to the under treatment patients of meeting those who have been discharged after treatment and are living a healthy life, as children and their parents need a lot of moral support during the difficult period when the child was undergoing treatment.
Dr Afroze Ramzan, Director of NICH, said that all treatment, radiology investigations and chemotherapy and other tests are provided free of cost to the patients. NICH has a state-of-the-art laboratory. The tests include CT scan and MRI scans.
Total 350 patients are currently under treatment at NICH oncology unit. On average, about 150 patients receive chemotherapy every month, which is an expensive mode of treatment for cancer patients and is not affordable for them.
After diagnosis, a patient undergoes treatment for 4 to 5 years, which costs approximately Rs 0.3 million to Rs 0.5 million, which certainly is a very big amount for a poor family. After treatment, patients are called regularly for follow-up check-ups at the unit.
The unit admits children up to 14 years of age suffering from various types of cancer from all parts of the country. Majority of the patients comes from Sindh and Balochistan.
NICH oncology and BMT unit have received 50 percent recovery rate, which is less than 70 percent recovery rate achieved by best institutions of the world, but it is considered satisfactory under the circumstances of the treatment available in the country.
Khawar Butt, Managing director, English Biscuit Manufacturers (Pvt) Ltd, was the guest of honour. He said that a step taken to look after a patient is one of the beloved steps near Allah.
"Therefore, we must feel the problems faced by the underprivilege people due to low income that they can not afford the treatment of a deadly disease cancer that had gripped their child. We must give aid to such associations that are doing the good work of helping such people for us."
He said: "Humanity is the first lesson that our religion taught us. So, we must follow the teaching of Islam and give charity for such noble cause." He urged other philanthropist of the country to join hands and help NICH to continue its good job.
He also advised the parents of the child patients not to worry and should not be disappointed as it is a challenge for them.
Shortage of trained personnel is the main drawback in the expansion of pediatric oncology in Pakistan. Citing this problem, The Child Aid Association, with the co-operation of National Institute of Child Health, is planning to start training programme in Pediatric Oncology with the help of a group of pediatric oncologist of Pakistan origin in USA to overcome the shortage of Pediatric Oncologists in Pakistan.
A number of TV artistes, like Marina Khan and Humayun Saeed, participated in the celebration and lit candles with the children. The artistes also distributed gifts to the patients under treatment at the oncology unit in NICH. A magic show was also organised for the children.
Dr Najma Saeed presented the vote of thanks.
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