Parents of children with cancer voice fears of closure of Egypt’s Hospital 57357

Egypt’s economic crisis has made one of the country’s largest hospitals for children with cancer, Hospital 57357, vulnerable to closure, instilling fears into relatives of patients, as they may not find an alternative place to go.

The crisis became public last week when it was announced that the hospital may suspend its services for the patients due to a shortage in donations and the high prices of medicines. Since then, calls were made in local media outlets and on social media under the hashtag #Save_Cancer_Children to raise more funds and donations.

Egypt’s Social Solidarity Ministry donated 75 million Egyptian pounds, while numerous celebrities and citizens rushed to send more money, despite the current economic situation.

However, Sherif Aboulnaga, CEO of the Children's Cancer Hospital 57357, said in comments to “Al-Hekaya” talk show on MBC Misr channel on December 23 that donations for the hospital have not declined in comparison to pervious years, but the crisis relates to the high costs of treatments due to the change in the exchange rate between the Egyptian pound and the US dollar. He noted that the money in the hospital’s treasury is 300 million Egyptian pounds, which is enough for only four months, and then the hospital could close.

The country is suffering from increasing inflation and “abrupt large-scale portfolio outflows” imposing more pressure on the country’s foreign debts and public finances, according to a report by the World Bank’s Economic Monitor on Egypt on December 19.

As the country embarked on austerity measures to mitigate the crisis that hit the health sector, some relatives of children with cancer voiced their hope that the hospital does not close, as there is no alternative place where their children can receive medical care.

“We got upset when we knew that the hospital may shut down, although there are many people who donate. The hospital should not be shut down, because it is the only place that provides the best medical care to cancer patients. Its doctors are quite trusted. They do their best. All the requirements are available at the hospital,” said Angy Salama (35 years old), the mother of child Korlus Amir, who suffers from Leukemia.

She added in comments to Jusoor Post that her son’s treatment at the hospital will take three years, so she hopes the hospital will not be closed.

The same hope was expressed by Nadia Ahmed Hossam, a mother of another 57357 patient. “My eldest son, Ahmed Alaa, is being treated for an eye tumor. We hope it [the hospital] will not be closed, because there are no other places. I came from Upper Egypt three months ago,” she told Jusoor Post

The mother, who is an employee at the Development and Population Services Center Association in Jift city in Qena, added that her son has just undergone chemotherapy and will receive it weekly on a regular basis until recovering.

“I hope that another cancer treatment hospital will be built in Upper Egypt, but I don’t think that the hospital [that I wish to be built] would even have the same services, medical care, treatment, and medicine like Hospital 57357,” she continued.

“Suddenly, we found exophthalmos in the [right] eye and he could not see with it. I lived in a difficult psychological state, especially after I saw another boy die of cancer,” she said, adding, however, that the hospital doctor assured her that her son’s condition is curable. “She [the doctor] gave me a glimmer of hope,” Hossam added.

“We know that the hospital is vulnerable to closure, so we don’t know how our situation will be. We have no alternative amid the high prices of the medicines,” another mother of a 17-year-old girl suffering from adenocarcinoma said in an interview with Jusoor Post.

Also, from Beni Suef, a mother of another patient, Shahd, who has been receiving treatment at the hospital since 2017 and had tumors removed from her lung, told Jusoor Post that purchasing tramadol from outside the hospital is quite expensive, as it exceeds 1,000 Egyptian pounds, but the hospital provides her enough medicine and gives her pocket money for transportation to go back home.

“If the hospital closed, we don’t know where we can go,” she added.

The prices of medicine in Egypt have increased, some pharmacists confirmed to Jusoor Post. The increase was recorded in local-manufactred and exported medicines to extent that the prices of some medicines doubled.

In response to a question raised by Jusoor Post, some employees at the hospital said the economic crisis is part of the problem, without mentioning other reasons.

Donations in doubts 

This was not the first time for the hospital to call for donations, which has raised doubts about how the donations are being spent.

Adly Hussein, a new member of the Board of Trustees of Hospital 57357, revealed that he would hold an urgent meeting with the Minister of Solidarity on Januay 3 regarding the hospital. He added in media comments to the “Salet el Tahrir” [The News Room] talk show on Sada El Balad TV on Monday that he receives negative information about expenses, donations, and hospital management, adding that the workers in the hospital’s Tanta branch are about to be sacked after the hospital is closed.

Hussein said that there is an academy established inside the hospital that is funded by donations and deducts a large part of the expenses due to the high salaries for the hospital staff.

These doubts were not the first accusations against the hospital. In June 2018, late writer Wahid Hamed threw cold water on the hospital, accusing it of corruption when it comes to expending donations in his articles titled “57357: The Aboulnaga’s Hospital.”

In addition to this, the writer criticized the hospital for “misusing” the children and their parents for advertisement campaigns to get more funds, as this contradicts the children’s rights.

How did the hospital respond to the crisis?

Due to the shortage in the donation flows, the hospital took certain measures to mitigate the situation, according to a document obtained by Masrawy on December 24.

The hospital said the economic crisis led to a decline in accepting new cases over the past two years. It received a total of 2,819 patients in 2021, compared to 3,356 in 2020. Meanwhile, the number of patients throughout 2022 until December reached 2,034, or a 24% decrease.

The operation of the branch in Tanta has been suspended, and all patients were transferred to the main headquarters in Cairo, with the justification that the cost of medicine in the Tanta branch is 30%-45% higher than the cost in Cairo’s branch. The Tanta branch was then handed over to Tanta University.

In addition to this, patients who are older than 23 years old were transported to other specialized hospitals. The number of patients transferred reached 1,398, and the post-care check-ups would last for only five years.