| |  Some Help won't hurt.
Ramadan is a time to reflect on the needs of others and to contribute to the welfare of the ill and underprivileged. This year, special efforts are underway to raise money for the construction of a hospital dedicated exclusively to treating children with cancer. Insight looks at the progress achieved and the hard work ahead. Childhood cancer kills more youths than any other disease. Although fifty percent of Egyptian children with cancer will die, an overwhelming 75-80% of children in western countries are cured. Over the past six years in Egypt, significant fundraising was achieved for the treatment of children with cancer, through compelling advertising slogans. This year, efforts are underway to construct a world-class hospital to treat children with cancer.
Advertising and business mogul Tarek Nour has used his talents and influence to help raise millions on behalf of The National Cancer Institute (NCI), among other charities. Nour has a reputation for mastering a multitude of skills, from creative and musical know-how to business acumen and insight. For 28 years, he has had a finger on the pulse of the consumer market, channelling this skill into the production of effective advertising for the Egyptian market. Six years ago, he turned his talents in another direction: the production of ads dedicated to raising money for charities on behalf of the homeless, orphans, the physically and mentally challenged, as well as cancer sufferers.
It all started six years ago when he was approached by his friend, Hossam Kabany, who told Nour that he was planning to contribute LE 250,000 to the Children’s Cancer Foundation. He asked Nour if he knew of anyone else willing to donate to the charity. Through networking, Nour managed to pool together donations from Ahmed Bahgat and Safwan Sabet that added up to LE 750, 000; then Nour got an idea. He convinced the three to channel that money into a commercial on behalf of the NCI. Using a simple yet powerful slogan "Your sympathy is not enough, donate even one pound" awareness as well as much needed money was raised on behalf of children with cancer. The commercials aired during Ramadan, when viewership as well as charity consciousness is at its yearly peak. Nour’s idea worked. To date, the TV campaign has helped NCI raise LE175 million.
This year’s charity campaign is unprecedented in its ambition: in order to build the hospital for children with cancer, the total funds needed just to construct and equip the premises, is estimated at $50 million US. Patricia Pruden, assistant director of public relations for the The Association of Friends of the National Cancer Institute (AFNCI), explained that they are aiming to raise LE20 million from the one-day event. "We will need LE70 million in the next few months to build the superstructure," she added. As for the model for its design, Dr Abu El Naga, a paediatric oncologist and managing director of AFNCI, went to America’s St. Jude Hospital, located in Memphis, Tennesee. The hospital specialises in treating children with catastrophic diseases, primarily paediatric cancers. It was there that he got the inspiration to build a hospital in Egypt that could also provide superior medical facilities within a ‘patient friendly’ atmosphere. Following in the footsteps of St Jude’s, no one will be turned away because of either race, creed or their inability to pay. The hospital has already begun construction on land donated by the governorate of Cairo, in Sayeda Zeinab. The land had been originally slated for a park. The park will now be built around the hospital, to add to the patient-friendly ambiance that the AFNCI is trying to achieve. In fact, the hospital will be equipped with everything from toys to cartoons aired on large video screens, to make the children feel more at ease on premises.
Unfortunately, working against the AFNCI’s fundraising efforts is Egypt’s already dire economy, which was compounded by the global effects of the September 11th attacks on the US. "We could not have chosen a worse time to raise $50 million," admitted Lois Crooks, Director for Development for the AFNCI. Still, the association is counting on its past success with Tarek Nour's advertising campaigns on television as well as an ambitious fund-raising event on November second.
A score of celebrities will be on-hand at Cairo Stadium on November second to participate in Festival 57357 (The number refers to AFNCI’s bank account number, located in five different banks). As their slogan "Run Today, Build Tomorrow" suggests, the festival will revolve around two sponsored races, followed by a four-hour concert by AFNCI's celebrity capital campaign chairman, Hisham Abbas, and his celebrity friends Anoushka, Hakim and Mohamed Fouad, among others. Abbas and friends will also be participating in a one-kilometre celebrity run. For those of us who aren't as famous, a five-kilometre run will be open to the general public. The five-kilometre run will begin at 10am. Participants are welcomed to register on the morning of the event. Excerpts from the festival will be aired on channels two and three, as well as on MTV’s Mashaweer program, which will focus mostly on the concert. Festival 57357 was inspired by the efforts of a Canadian, Terry Fox, who, back in 1981, spearheaded what was to become an annual walkathon in Canada that spanned the entire length of his country. After walking literally thousands of kilometres (Fox lost one leg to cancer prior to the walkathon’s creation), he eventually succumbed to the disease, but only after having raised millions on behalf of cancer research and treatment. Last year, The Terry Fox Run was held in 55 countries, with 1.5 million participants helping to raise $21.7 million. It is hoped that Festival 57357 will also become an annual event, as the new hospital must depend on ongoing donations to keep it going.
Some have expressed criticism for the cost of the hospital's construction. Besides the $50 million needed to construct and equip the hospital, an additional $45 million will be required for the training of specialised staff, as well as for the estimated running fees of the hospital for its first 2 years.
Why is the project so expensive? Perhaps because the AFNCI is taking preventative steps to ensure the health and safety of its patients. Chemotherapy robs the body of cells needed to ward off common illnesses such as colds. Thus, not only are patients who are undergoing chemotherapy particularly susceptible to contagious maladies, they are more impacted by the ailment. In fact, some hospitals are "losing patients to colds, not to the cancer itself," said Crooks. The new hospital will control for this by providing private and semi-private rooms for its patents, as well as an efficient ventilation system throughout the hospital. As for the extra investment in these seeming luxuries, Crooks rationalised that "the private and semi-private rooms will pay for themselves in antibiotics." In another example of economic forethought, the outer shell of the hospital will be made of a glass-like material, known commercially as Evergreen, which reflects away heat, thus lessening the need, and the cost, of air-conditioning. Stainless steel ‘sails’ will further deflect the sun’s rays from the side of the building most exposed to it.
The hospital project has been undertaken with the utmost forethought and planning. Working together with Shaker Consultancy Group, Hamza and Associates and the Swedish Skanska Company, the AFNCI analysed the logistical needs of the hospital from top to bottom. After that was achieved, bids were submitted by contractors for construction of the facility. The winning bid came from an American company: Jonathan Bailey, whose architectural expertise is in hospital construction.
Unlike many of the half-constructed buildings in Cairo, which are left with their metallic tentacles dangling from the roofs until money for the structures’ completion is raised, "[The AFNCI] is not going ahead with just a shell of a building," explained Crooks. Enough money must be raised for the completion of the structure before the cranes arrive. Understandably, the hospital also won't open their doors without properly trained staff as well. "We don't have the personnel needed for every department," said Crooks. Part of this problem stems from the fact that the local education network does not train people to become biomedical engineers or infection control officers. In order to bridge this educational gap, St Jude’s has flown trainers to Cairo as well as inviting trainees to Memphis, at no cost to AFNCI. Eventually, the hospital will bring employment to 1050 physicians , nurses, administrators and support staff.
The hospital is striving to promote more outpatient than inpatient care, so as to allow for two to three times the number of patients treated on a daily basis. Besides the greater time and cost efficiency of outpatient service, patients and their family members tend to prefer the at-home care option, anyway. Also, a clinical pharmacy will comprise part of the new hospital premises. Modelling western pharmaceutical practice, the pharmacy will store records of the clients’ medical needs, allergies, etc. so as to better serve the needs of the patients and avoid complications resulting from contraindications and human error.
So far, the AFNCI has been fortunate to receive a number of ‘in kind’ donations such as cement, electric and telephone cables, steel and ceramic tiles: "We’ve received LE 35 million in funds and about LE 35 million in in-kind gifts," said Crooks. It is hoped that this year’s Ramadan TV commercial campaign, combined with proceeds from Festival 57357 will put AFNCI well on the way to the establishment of Africa and the Middle East’s only state-of-the art hospital for children with cancer.
If all goes well, the hospital will open by the end of 2003. | | |
