Today, we at the Egypt Cancer Network are honored to announce the Association of the Friends of the National Cancer Institute (AFNCI) as a major recipient of our support. The mission of AFNCI is to support NCI in the areas of patient care, equipment and facility upgrade, and education.
AFNCI, established in the 1990’s, is a registered Egyptian NGO with the Ministry of Social Solidarity. AFNCI boasts a long list of achievements including a cytogenetic lab, outpatient pediatric oncology clinic, the first clinical pharmacy in Egypt, and the initial establishment of Hospital 57357.Hospital 57357 marks the largest project AFNCI has undertaken, which included the feasibility, design, construction, equipment, and fundraising. AFNCI continues to support Hospital 57357 on special projects and we commend their efforts to help treat children with cancer in Hospital 57357. Presently, AFNCI working on establishing several outpatient clinics for expert consultations, pharmacies, and blood draws on NCI’s premises.
Two years ago, one of the two towers of Egypt’s National Cancer Institute needed structural reinforcement and renovation. NCI decided as a safety and preventive measure to consolidate services into one tower, which resulted in over-crowding. The reinforcement assessment was estimated to take at least 5 years but an interim solution was presented in the opportunity to leverage the 4,200 sq. meter garden area near one of the towers where a light structure complex could be built to house 43 outpatients, resulting in 1,600 visitors per day.
While this interim solution helped to reduce the overcrowding in the tower there is an urgent need to speed up the construction for the new complex to ensure smooth service and safety of patients and staff. Please see the architectural drawings for the complex below. The new complex estimated cost is $8-$10 million Egyptian pounds. According to engineer who has previously worked on NCI projects and is currently overseeing the new complex implementation, “Once funding is secured, the complex would be operational in five to six months. The preliminary design is ready and we are proceeding with the detailed design phase, namely the Electro-mechanical works and structure.” We are excited to move forward as we seek to help increase treatment services for children with cancer in Hospital 57357.
