On 14 October 2014 the Israeli Ambassador to Greece, Irit Ben Aba and Israeli Professor Ze’ev Rotstain, General Director of the Israeli Medical Center, Sheba, visited the Marianna V Vardinoyannis-ELPIDA Children’s Oncology Unit where they met with the President of the ELPIDA Association of Friends of Children Marianna V Vardinoyannis and the Director of the Agia Sofia Children’s Hospital, Emmanuel Papasavvas.
The purpose of the meeting was the signing of a cooperation agreement between the Sheba Medical Center and the Children’s Oncology Unit, marking another great addition to the ELPIDA “Twinning Programme” with major medical centers abroad. The programme was initiated by Marianna V Vardinoyannis early in 2013. The objective of the twinning project is the exchange of scientific knowledge in the fight against childhood cancer, at the same time creating a bridge of peace, friendship, understanding and cooperation between peoples.
Israel is the sixth country after Turkey, Canada, Egypt, Serbia and Azerbaijan, to have its flag added to the Oncology Unit’s Map of Peace and Hope, a symbolic map, created to honour the countries the Association is working with in the field of childhood cancer. It’s a map that members hope to see the flags of many other countries added to.
During the meeting, Ms. Vardinoyannis highlighted the activities and future plans of the ELPIDA Association, emphasizing the high cure rates of childhood cancer occurring in the Pediatric Oncology Unit, where 3 out of 4 children are cured of cancer.
At the end of the meeting Professor Ze’ev Rotstain congratulated Mrs. Vardinoyannis on the importance of the project and said: “I am here in this fantastic hospital that gives hope to children with cancer and I am remembering that in Israel we had the same idea to build such a hospital dedicated to these children. Fate brought us here to work together and give hope to all children in our region. With the collaboration between the two centers we give not only hope, we give more life. I am very excited to work together to find solutions to assist more children, to look after them and offer them the best care. I can learn a lot from Mrs Vardinoyannis’ devotion, her contribution and huge project to return the smile to the faces of the sick children and their parents.”
It is worth noting that the Sheba Medical Center located in Tel Hashomer, just outside Tel Aviv, is the largest in Israel, the most comprehensive in the Middle East and is known throughout the world for his pioneering medicine. It features 150 scientific and clinical departments, 7500 scientific, nursing and administrative staff, and research center, and receives an estimated more than 1.5 million patients annually.
Miretta Christofides, Director of the Office of Sheba in Cyprus, Dr. Tsamopoulos Nicholas, Director of the Department of Interventional Neuroradiology at the Mediterraneo Hospital and Nektarios Triantafyllakis, of VitaMia Medical which works with the Sheba Centre, were also present at the meeting.
On 14 October 2014 the Israeli Ambassador to Greece, Irit Ben Aba and Israeli Professor Ze’ev Rotstain, General Director of the Israeli Medical Center, Sheba, visited the Marianna V Vardinoyannis-ELPIDA Children’s Oncology Unit where they met with the President of the ELPIDA Association of Friends of Children Marianna V Vardinoyannis and the Director of the Agia Sofia Children’s Hospital, Emmanuel Papasavvas.
The purpose of the meeting was the signing of a cooperation agreement between the Sheba Medical Center and the Children’s Oncology Unit, marking another great addition to the ELPIDA “Twinning Programme” with major medical centers abroad. The programme was initiated by Marianna V Vardinoyannis early in 2013. The objective of the twinning project is the exchange of scientific knowledge in the fight against childhood cancer, at the same time creating a bridge of peace, friendship, understanding and cooperation between peoples.
Israel is the sixth country after Turkey, Canada, Egypt, Serbia and Azerbaijan, to have its flag added to the Oncology Unit’s Map of Peace and Hope, a symbolic map, created to honour the countries the Association is working with in the field of childhood cancer. It’s a map that members hope to see the flags of many other countries added to.
During the meeting, Ms. Vardinoyannis highlighted the activities and future plans of the ELPIDA Association, emphasizing the high cure rates of childhood cancer occurring in the Pediatric Oncology Unit, where 3 out of 4 children are cured of cancer.
At the end of the meeting Professor Ze’ev Rotstain congratulated Mrs. Vardinoyannis on the importance of the project and said: “I am here in this fantastic hospital that gives hope to children with cancer and I am remembering that in Israel we had the same idea to build such a hospital dedicated to these children. Fate brought us here to work together and give hope to all children in our region. With the collaboration between the two centers we give not only hope, we give more life. I am very excited to work together to find solutions to assist more children, to look after them and offer them the best care. I can learn a lot from Mrs Vardinoyannis’ devotion, her contribution and huge project to return the smile to the faces of the sick children and their parents.”
It is worth noting that the Sheba Medical Center located in Tel Hashomer, just outside Tel Aviv, is the largest in Israel, the most comprehensive in the Middle East and is known throughout the world for his pioneering medicine. It features 150 scientific and clinical departments, 7500 scientific, nursing and administrative staff, and research center, and receives an estimated more than 1.5 million patients annually.
Miretta Christofides, Director of the Office of Sheba in Cyprus, Dr. Tsamopoulos Nicholas, Director of the Department of Interventional Neuroradiology at the Mediterraneo Hospital and Nektarios Triantafyllakis, of VitaMia Medical which works with the Sheba Centre, were also present at the meeting.