First Lady Margaret Kenyatta concludes Europe tour

First Lady Margaret Kenyatta concludes Europe tour

First Lady Margaret Kenyatta visited the largest Paediatric Oncology Centre in Europe as she wrapped up her official tour in Netherlands.

She visited the Princess Maxima Centre for Paediatric Oncology which specializes in the treatment of cancer in children.

The Centre which has a twinning partnership with Kenya’s Moi Teaching and Referral Hospital (MTRH) in Eldoret is rated the best Paediatric Oncology centre in Europe with a 75 per cent recovery rate for children with cancer.

CEO Diana Monissen said approximately 600 children are diagnosed with cancer in Netherlands alone. The special facility however receives children from all over the European region.

The centre brings together the best possible care and scientific research, creating a unique interdisciplinary institute for paediatric oncology in Europe. All the best oncologists in Netherlands are based at the centre.

The centre concentrates all care, experience and expertise with regard to cancer in children in a single location to facilitate research, diagnosis and treatment and further improve patient outcomes.

Although the cure rate for cancer has tremendously increased over the decades, said Ms Monissen, cancer remains the major cause of disease-related deaths in children in Netherlands.

Besides the usual healthcare and medical facilities, the centre has special facilities where the children can research on and follow their own cases on cancer (discovery place), as well as a music studio where the children can relax and enjoy various music  compositions.

There are also facilities where parents can stay and feed their recovering children.

Ms Monissen said the centre treats some of the most complex cancer cases in children

The Oncology centre runs under the Princess Maxima Foundation which is also the initiator of the World Child Cancer-NL Foundation that aims to train and advise healthcare professionals in developing countries, including Kenya, in paediatric oncology.

Currently, the Foundation is active at the MTRH but wishes to further participate in child cancer programs through outreach arrangements throughout Kenya.

After an extensive tour of the facility and discussions with Ms Monissen, First Lady Margaret Kenyatta said the concept would work very well in Kenya.

First Lady Margaret Kenyatta was in Netherlands for the Global AIDS summit which ended Friday in Amsterdam.

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