Kateryna Yushchenko and TNK-BP donate $200,000 to Oncology Institute (01/01/06)

Kateryna Yushchenko and TNK-BP donate $200,000 to Oncology Institute

by Olga Bondaruk
Special to The Ukrainian Weekly

KYIV - First Lady Kateryna Yushchenko's Ukraine 3000 International Charity Fund teamed up with oil company TNK-BP in donating nearly $200,000 worth of oncology equipment and medicine to the children's unit of the Ukrainian Academy of Sciences' Oncology Institute.

At a December 23 ceremony at the Ukrayinskyi Dim on European Square, Mrs. Yushchenko handed a certificate for the new equipment to Hryhorii Klymnyuk, Ukraine's chief child oncologist.

"For the first time, authorities, the business sector and charity organizations have turned their attention to the most unfortunate," Mr. Klymnyuk said.

Among the technology received by the Oncology Institute was a device bought in the U.S. that enables doctors to diagnose cancer within an hour, as well as a fastening device to secure children during laser therapy.

Government hospitals have never had such high-technology equipment, Mr. Klymnyuk said. It helps doctors prescribe necessary treatment in time and therefore avoid various complications, he said.

About 1,000 children in Ukraine are diagnosed with cancer-related illnesses each year, according to official government statistics.

More than 350 children undergo medical treatment at the Oncology Institute annually, or about 70 percent of Ukrainian children being treated for cancer, hospital officials said.m

It was the first time that the Ukraine 3000 Fund and TNK-BP teamed up to make a donation.

For the future, the two organizations have initiated a four-year charity project with an annual budget of about $800,000 to treat children with cerebral palsy.

The program envisages free medical treatment for children with cerebral palsy from underprivileged families, according to fund officials.

"This is only a start to our future long-term partnership," said Oleksander Horodetsky, president of TNK-BP Ukraine. "We express our hopes that other companies will follow our example."

The fund will seek to work with European and American hospitals, medical organizations and corporations to improve the efficiency of Ukrainian hospitals and the overall health care system in Ukraine.

Hospitals face difficulties in treatment because government funding is insufficient and treatment is expensive, Mr. Klymnyuk said.

About 70 percent of all children with cancer-related diseases can be cured, but in Ukraine the amount does not surpass 50 percent because of limited financial resources, Mr. Klymnyuk said.

Sponsors contribute at times to the annual budget of Oncology Institute, but this financial assistance does not amount to more than 10 percent of the money it needs, hospital officials said.

The fund plans to take steps to improve the laws and taxation of charity organizations since "there are lots of problems there," said Andrii Miroshnychenko, Mrs. Yushchenko's advisor.

He also said that all charity investments are taxed, with 50 percent of any donation going to the government budget.

Mrs. Yushchenko's Ukraine 3000 International Charity Fund, a non-governmental charity organization created in 2001, set as its priority helping children with serious illnesses, those with special needs and those without homes as well as orphans.

The fund's policy is to be "as transparent as possible," Mr. Miroshnychenko said. Therefore, it donates equipment instead of money.

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