BASMA provides children with cancer with direct access to life-saving medicines, which are not available in public cancer centers.
BASMA also provides accommodations and food provisions for families coming to Damascus for treatment to alleviate the burden of treatment costs and reduce abandonment rates.
The Medicine Support
Program:
BASMA has continued
providing all the medicines that are not available in the cancer treatment
units in Damascus hospitals (The Children’s Hospital, Al-Beirouni Hospital,
Al-Assad University Hospital, Al-Mouwassat Hospital).
In 2023, BASMA received
326 new cases of children with cancer from all the Syrian governorates as
follow:
Damascus | Damascus | Kounaytra | Sweida | Daraa | Homs | Hama | Aleppo | Lattakia | Tartous | Idleb | Hassaka | Rakka | Deir ElZor |
18 | 32 | 5 | 1 | 20 | 23 | 25 | 42 | 2 | 8 | 8 | 46 | 32 | 64 |
•This brings the total
number of cases registered at BASMA and provided with services through the
financial support program and the medicine support program specifically to 7,256
children from all Syrian governorates.
•On another hand, the
total cost of this program in 2023 was 1,424,414,655 SYP, with an approximate
average of 118,700,000 SYP per month. It reflects a 14,144 % increase for the
cost of this program since 2011.
2&3. The Housing and Food Program:
BASMA has continued providing simple housing for the families of children coming from the other Syrian governorates to Damascus for treatment. It has now 5 rooms with a fully-serviced annex. In 2023, BASMA has hosted more than 500 families in this program.
The demand for this service has become more and more essential than the past years, since the parents prefer to live in a place within Damascus city and as close as possible to The Children’s Hospital. And it is worth mentioning that 3,195 meals were provided to support the families who are far from their homes, families and relatives.
The total cost of this program in 2023
• The food and housing program for the families: 33,789,500 SYP.
4&5. The Moral and Psychological Support Program:
BASMA Pediatric Oncology Unit
The work in the unit begun in 28/4/2009 and 2,715 children from all the Syrian governorates were admitted in the unit since then with 406 cases during 2023 as follow:
Damascus | Damascus Countryside | Kenitra | Suwayda | Daraa | hummus | Mother-in-law | Aleppo | Latakia | Tartous | Idlib | Al-Hasakah | Delicacy | Deer Al Zour |
70 | 53 | 3 | 13 | 19 | 44 | 41 | 38 | 15 | 20 | 1 | 29 | 21 | 39 |
After the last expansion in 2020, BASMA Unit now consists of 40 in-patient beds (including 8 beds in isolation rooms, 4 intensive care beds), a procedure room, a day clinic, two play rooms, and a pharmacy in addition to an out-patient unit consisting of 12 beds, 1 laboratory, and 2 rooms for medicines preparation for a total area of 1,580 m2.
The number of employees within the unit is 93 employees as of end 2023, headed by a specialist in pediatric oncology, who holds a master’s degree in pediatric oncology from St. Jude Center.