Hospital 57357 organizes a global day towards better supportive care for children with cancer

In attendance of a group of local and world experts in the field of contagious diseases, Hospital 57357 organized a global day towards better supportive care for children with cancer, under the supervision of Dr. Alaa Elhadad, head of pediatric oncology department, Dr. Manal Zamzam, head of continuous education and development, and Dr. Lobna Shalabi, head of contagious diseases department.
Major local and world health centers, such as St. Jude Hospital, the International Society for Pediatric Oncology, SIOP, the Egyptian Society for Pediatric Oncology and blood cancer, the General Authority for Healthcare, the General Authority for Accreditation and Health Surveillance and many Egyptian universities participated in this event. Dr. Elizabeth Taylor, representative of the WHO in Egyp also attended.
The day, that witnessed intensive media coverage, started with a welcoming speech by Dr. Shalabi who highlighted that the global day aims to boost cooperation and exchange of local and international expertise in the field of infectious disease control through 3 axes, the first is to review the global situation, the second is to review common aspects in local and international protocols, the third is to review 57357’s experience in the area of contagious diseases in children with cancer, encouraging more interest in this specialty and the importance of setting up a related fellowship program.
Dr. Kathy Johns, the former president of SIOP gave a speech where she presented the role of the organization in speeding up work related to the WHO initiative to eliminate children’s cancer. She reviewed the reasons behind treatment failure in some cancer cases, and how to deal with it while assuring the organization’s target to save one million children by 2030, especially in poor countries.
Through zoom, participants from Pakistan, Turky and Mexico spoke about their experiences.
Dr. Taylor spoke about the increasing medication resistant infections, and about antibiotics and the dangers of their misuse.
Hospital 57357 is leader in the field of contagious diseases where, ever since its inception, its management dedicated an integrated unit for the treatment of contagious diseases. The goal was to enable the rapid diagnosis and treatment of contagious diseases, which would contribute to protecting children with cancer and improve their healing results as cancer treatment, whether chemotherapy, radiotherapy or bone marrow transplantation, causes a severe drop in patient’s immunity. As such, he becomes susceptible to all kinds of infections and contagious diseases which may threaten his life, added Dr. Shalabi.
During the previous years, the great development in microbiology, virology, and genetics, contributed to the improvement and rapid diagnosis of contagious diseases in research labs. This led to the rapid treatment of the disease and reflected on an improved outcome of cancer recovery, especially with the spread of viral and bacterial diseases, and the 55% rise in bacteria resistance to antibiotics.
“This meeting is a chance for communication and exchange between the different expertise in the field of contagious diseases, and highlights the importance of this specialty as well as an invitation for more interest locally”, said Dr. Zamzam. “The continuous learning and development department offers a sustainable platform for exchanging information globally, and innovative practical training, which ultimately leads to realizing change in the field of children’s cancer treatment, to ensure the provision of high quality care services to children throughout the region”, she added.