Texas Children’s global health initiative recently expanded its services in Europe and Africa, enabling more children and adults across the globe to receive quality medical care. Two of the initiatives will help children in Africa who are suffering from cancer. The third effort will aid both adults and children living in Romania with HIV, hepatitis and tuberculosis.
Romania
The Romania initiative occurred June 6 when Baylor College of Medicine International Pediatric AIDS Initiative at Texas Children’s Hospital (BIPAI) formally opened the expansion of its center of excellence in Constanta, Romania, a port city hit hard by the AIDS epidemic.
“The addition of a third floor to our center of excellence marks an important milestone in our life-saving work here in Romania,” said Dr. Mark W. Kline, Texas Children’s Hospital physician-in-chief and BIPAI president. “What began as a center for children with HIV now has transitioned to a center for the long-term care of adults with HIV, along with the identification and care of patients with hepatitis and tuberculosis.”
AbbVie and the AbbVie Foundation (formerly Abbott and Abbott Fund) have been the lead sponsor of the BIPAI Romania program since its launch 15 years ago in 2001, investing $7.7 million in its HIV/AIDS and hepatitis programs, and providing $35.9 million in medications in partnership with AmeriCares.
“We are grateful for the opportunity to partner with BIPAI in Constanta for the past 15 years,” said Melissa Walsh, vice president of the AbbVie Foundation. “The program has become the model for many pediatric HIV/AIDS centers of excellence around the world, and we are proud to support the broadening of its life-saving work for patients, including liver disease.”
Malawi
The AbbVie Foundation, along with the Abbott Fund, also helped fund the recent cancer initiative in Malawi. On June 9, BIPAI, the AbbVie Foundation and the Malawi Ministry of Health reopened two renovated pediatric wards and dedicated a new pediatric hematology/oncology unit at Kamuzu Central Hospital.
“We are honored to celebrate this milestone for the Baylor College of Medicine and Texas Children’s Hospital,” Walsh said. “The Malawi program has transformed the lives of thousands of children and their families living with HIV/AIDS and we are so proud to support the expansion of that work into the pediatric cancer space.”
In addition to AbbVie, the Chevron Corporation also supports the Malawi program, funding its only pediatric oncologist, Dr. Peter Wasswa of Baylor College of Medicine and Texas Children’s Cancer Center.
“Today’s ceremony provides further evidence of our continued commitment to the children of Malawi,” said Michael Mizwa, chief operating officer, BIPAI, and director, Texas Children’s Global Health. “We look forward to another decade of expanding our programs to meet the needs of sick children, including care and treatment, professional education for physicians and other healthcare professionals, and ground-breaking research.”
Botswana
The second effort dedicated to helping children in Africa with cancer occurred on June 13 in Botswana when the Botswana-Baylor Children’s Center of Excellence and the government of Botswana signed a memorandum of agreement to build the first children’s hematology and cancer center of excellence in Gaborone.
“Approximately 40,000 children a year are diagnosed with cancer in sub-Saharan Africa and 20 percent of those children survive, compared with 80 percent in the U.S.,” said Dr. David Poplack, director of Texas Children’s Cancer and Hematology Centers. “This COE (Center of Excellence), in partnership with the Botswana Ministry of Health, will change those numbers in favor of the children of Botswana.”
When pediatric oncologists from Texas Children’s Hospital began working at Princess Marina Hospital in Gaborone, it was the first pediatric oncology program on the continent. The recent agreement between the Botswana-Baylor Children’s Center of Excellence and the government of Botswana expands that commitment to include the first stand-alone cancer center of excellence devoted exclusively to the treatment of children with cancer and blood diseases.
“The purpose of this agreement is to provide finance, design, construction, operation and maintenance of the state-of-the-art Botswana Children’s Hematology and Cancer Center which will be built next to the teaching hospital at the University of Botswana,” said Shenaaz el Halabi, permanent secretary at the Ministry of Health. “The Ministry of Health has had good relations with BIPAI dating as far back as 1999, which gave birth to the Baylor Children’s Center of Excellence in 2003. Since 2006, pediatric oncologists from Texas Children’s have been working at Princess Marina Hospital.”
The partnership responsible for the development and management of the Children’s Cancer Center includes: the Botswana Ministry of Health, Baylor College of Medicine Pediatric AIDS Initiative (BIPAI) and Texas Children’s.
