A first convoy of seven patients from Ukraine arrived in Belgium on Friday, at the military airport of Melsbroek, indicates the FPS Public Health.
The purpose of this medical evacuation, the result of cooperation between several partners, is to offer these people appropriate medical treatment.
These are young patients, aged 2 to 17, suffering from blood cancers such as leukemia or solid tumors such as brain tumours.
This medical evacuation is the result of successful cooperation between several partners.
The patients and their relatives arrived in Belgium via Lviv (Ukraine) and then Poland where a specific hospital for children with cancer fleeing the fighting was set up to coordinate the evacuation to the various European countries. The Belgian Society of Pediatric Hemato-Oncology (BSPHO) was the relay point with the teams in Poland for the organization of the evacuation to our country.
KickCancer coordinated the management of patients’ immediate needs with four patient organizations specialized in supporting patients: Aide aux Enfants Cancéreux (AEC, Liège), Kinderkankerfonds (Flanders), Sun Child (Brussels) and Tuki (Flanders) .
A charter flight was organized from Poland to Belgium by B-FAST*. A team of pediatricians, nurses and translators accompanied the flight. At the Queen Astrid Military Hospital in Neder-Over-Heembeek, a reception platform has been installed. The children were re-examined there by a medical specialist and the Immigration Office proceeded to register them. The BSPHO also organized the distribution between different specialized centers in Belgium. Relatives are accommodated by Fedasil in municipalities close to treating hospitals.
The European Commission contributes financially up to 75% of transport costs and is in charge of coordinating medical evacuations.
Several patient associations have mobilized for the practical support of the operation and of the patients during their stay in Belgium.
