Islamic Relief-supported oncology unit will provide cutting edge care for children in South Africa and across the continent.
On the seventh annual Nelson Mandela International Day, Islamic Relief is looking ahead to the opening of the ground breaking children’s hospital later this year.
The Nelson Mandela Children’s Hospital in Johannesburg, is due to be officially launched in December, stepping up the fight against childhood cancer in Africa.
Islamic Relief is proud to be contributing $10 million (£7,600,000) to the hospital’s oncology unit, helping children like LeeAnn (pictured above) who was just four years old when she was diagnosed with Leukaemia.
More than 40% of South African children with cancer never reach a specialist treatment centre.
While in the UK, four out of five children with cancer will survive, in South Africa the survival rate is around 50%.
The new state-of-the-art oncology unit will help to tackle these inequalities, delivering specialist care and promising that no child will be turned away because they cannot pay.
It will feature:
- Bone marrow transplant facilities and laboratory
- Surgery and theatres for tumour surgery
- Intensive care and high care beds
- Dedicated pharmacy
- Radiology facility.
The hospital will also build human capacity through training and research, fundamentally shifting the way Africa can treat its children.
This Mandela Day we remember the words of Madiba:
“Overcoming poverty is not a gesture of charity. It is the protection of a fundamental human right, the right to dignity and a decent life.”
Read more about the Nelson Mandela Children’s Hospital here.
