Oncology project Armenia 2012
Life-saving oncology project at Nairi Hospital in Armenia
A report by Prof. Dr. med. Christof Sohn, Director of the well-known University Women's Clinic in Heidelberg, on the extremely poor oncological care in Armenia and the dramatic consequences, especially for Armenian women, motivated the FFBT e.V. to become active in this area.
The most common cancer in Armenia is breast cancer and a diagnosis of breast cancer is perceived by the women affected as a death sentence - unfortunately often rightly so. Because of the completely inadequate care, Armenian women die unusually quickly and frequently from this disease. The fact that there is obviously a particular genetic predisposition to breast cancer in Armenia contributes to this, with the result that very young women are often diagnosed with the disease - to an extent unknown in the rest of Europe.
In order to help these women, the Heidelberg University Women's Hospital has started a regular exchange with the Nairi Hospital and other oncology facilities in the Armenian capital Yerevan: Every two months, Prof. Dr. Sohn and a senior physician spend a week operating on as many Armenian women suffering from breast cancer as possible and continue to treat them after the operation. For successful, often life-saving further treatment, it is necessary to bring the tissue of the operated women to Germany and examine it in pathological laboratories, as there are no facilities for this in Armenia. These transports and examinations are very expensive. There is also help for self-help: Armenian doctors are being trained in Heidelberg in the treatment of breast cancer in particular, in order to build up the necessary expertise in oncological care locally in the long term. This also costs a lot of money.
For FFBT e.V., it is a matter of course to actively support this important and deserving exchange project with the donations collected and thus contribute to helping large numbers of people suffering in a disadvantaged region and saving many lives. This year, FFBT e.V. was able to support this project financially for the first time; this urgently needed support is to be continued.