English version

Association Chance

Association For Helping Children Suffering From Hematological and Oncological Diseases


A Specialized department where children with serious disorders of  haematopoiesis are undergoing medical treatment exists at the Department of Pediatrics of the Medical Faculty of Palacky University and the University Hospital of Olomouc. The children come from the regions of Olomouc, Zlín and partly Moravia-Silesia. This workplace was established as a reference place for diagnostics and treatment of malignant disorders of  haematopoiesis for the entire territory of Moravia. Hemato-Oncology Department 21B has been established for these children's treatment where approximately 10 to15 chidren with malignant disorders of  haematopoiesis are accepted annually. The head of the 21B Department is Zbyněk Novák, MD with other doctors including Assoc. Prof. Dagmar Pospíšilová, MD, Ph.D. and Ivana Stejskalová, MD. The head of the Department of Pediatrics is Professor Vladimír Mihál, MD, Ph.D. Under his leadership they have been successful in treating more than 80 % of the children suffering from acute lympoblastic leukaemia (ALL). All children are treated in the same manner as in other developed countries of the world making use of internationally recognized medical protocols. The fundamental prerequisite for successful treatment are the high quality cytogenetic diagnoses carried out in the laboratory of Professor Marie Jarošová, Ph.D.

A Laboratory of Experimental Medicine (LEM) also exists at the Department of Pediatrics and carries out investigations of malignant cell resistance before inititating treatment. The LEM is  the reference centre in this field for the entire area of the Czech Republic. The head of the LEM is Assoc. Prof.  Marián Hajdúch, MD, Ph.D. Apart from the above-mentioned activities the laboratory also deals with anti-cancer therapy development.

 

Our aims and mission

  • Help ill children during their stay at the department and ease their return to everyday life.
  • Arrange free-time activities for both children and parents.
  • Improve the level of co-operation between parents, ill children and the medical staff.
  • Organisation and health surveillance of reconditioning stays for children during both the summer and winter time, both within the country and also abroad.
  • Organise weekend stays for families.
  • Organise family get-togethers during Christmas at the Department of Pediatrics of the University Hospital in Olomouc.
  • Ensure that the equipment of the beds and the out-patient parts of the department are above standard.
  • Help the medical workplace with provision of diagnostic and medical aids, instruments and equipment.
  • Support the scientific and research activities  of the new anti-cancer therapy development and clinically oriented oncology research in co-operation with the Rakovina věc veřejná (Cancer a Public Issue) association.
  • Promote and support the Bone Marrow Donors Registry.
  • Distribute information about questions of tumour diseases and medical treatment amongst the public within the frame of humanitarian activities (concerts, exhibitions, balls, gatherings, etc.).

The mission of Association Chance - Association of Parents and Friends of Children Suffering from Hematological and Oncological Diseases is to humanize the demanding anti-tumour treatment of children and ease their return back into everyday life.

Our work in this fields already has a tradition of several years and many volunteers in various parts of Central Moravia actively help the association. They contribute to a large extent to providing funding for the association and to improving its publicity. The work of the association would be impossible without their support. We would like to thank them deeply for their contributions.


Diagnoses of the children treated here

  • Acute Leukaemia -  the most frequent tumour disease in children consisting of approximately 30 % of all children's tumour diseases. 
  • Malignant Lymphoma, Hodgkin's Disease - this disease is mainly localized in the lymph nodes; it is the second most frequent tumour disease of the  hematopoiesis. 
  • Hypoplastic and Aplastic Anemia (Diamond-Blackfan Anemia - DBA) - children with this disease from all around Moravia are housed together at the Hemato-Oncology Department. 
  • Acute Autoimmune Trombocytopenia - this is the most frequent bleeding disorder in children. 
  • Haemophilia - a congenital bleeding disorder which only afflicts boys. 

Children undergo their demanding and uncomfortable treatment at the Hemato-Oncology Department 21B for extended periods of time and during this hospitalization period doctors, teachers, psychologists, parents and also members of Association Chance devote their time to them.

The civic association, Haima - Union for assisting children with blood formation disorders was founded in the year 1992. Doctors and nurses looking after children with blood formation disorders were involved in its establishment. They along with the parents and relatives of the ill children participated in the foundation of the association.      

In the year 1997 the new name Sdružení Šance - Association Chance was taken on. It is a voluntary association whose members can be individuals without regard to nationality, religion, profession or social status, but also corporations that would like to participate actively in helping children suffering from hematological and oncological diseases.

Association Chance is a non-profit civic association and is an independent centre for helping ill children suffering from hematological and oncological diseases within the area of Central Moravia. 

The number of association members was 250 (127 children and 123 adults) as of the 31st of October 2006 .


We have managed to:

  • Humanize the Hemato-Oncology Department by buying toys, art equipment, children's furniture, colourful bedding, etc.
  • We reinitiated global recontruction of  Hemato-Oncology Department 21B.
  • Buy above-standard medical equipment for the 21B Department.
  • Equip each room with TV sets, buy a videorecorder and children's videotapes and create a playroom for children.
  • Equip the hemato-oncology surgery as well as the doctors' and nurses' workrooms with new furniture.
  • Equip the kitchen for parents and the dining-hall for children.
  • Participate in equipping the Laboratory of Experimental Medicine (LEM) at the Department of Pediatrics.
  • Establish a bone marrow donors registry in the region of Zlín and pay for 2    bone marrow donor checkups.
  • Reonstruct and equip a social welfare institution and dayroom.
  • Integrate the association into the ICCCPO international organization.
  • Establish continuing co-operation with Barretstown Gang Camp in Ireland, with the association Rakovina věc veřejná (Cancer a public issue) and the VDV - Olga Havlová Association.
  • We participate in the organization of the international congress „ The Days of Diagnostic, Predictive, and Experimental Oncology" in Olomouc.
  • Organise both winter and summer curative stays within the Czech Republic.
  • Organise weekend stays for children and their families at various places in the Czech Republic and also abroad.
  • Oganise annual Christmas celebrations for children and their families at the Department of Pediatrics.
  • Help the nurses organise a fancy-dress ball day for the children at the Hemato-Oncology Department.
  • Organise meetings between the ill children and popular sports figures.
  • Annually publicise the Day for Children with Tumour Diseases by organising an event for children and the general public.
  • Create a position financed from a grant which provides children with the possibility to experience various forms of artetherapy during their treatment.
  • Establish the Association Chance website.
  • Publish the Association Chance yearbook and an annual report of its acitivities.

 

How we obtain financial resources?

  • Financial donations from both companies and individuals.
  • The public humanitarian event ‘Star of Bethlehem', held for 9 years throughout most of Moravia.
  • Subsidies from the state, donations from towns and  villages.
  • Donations from clubs, associations, foundations and organisations.
  • Selling of advent wreaths made by nurses, children and their parents.
  • Grants.
  • Public gatherings.
  • Concerts, theatre performances and public sales.

If you are interested in the activities of Association Chance - Association of Parents and Friends of Children Suffering from Hematological and Oncological Diseases, would like to have more information or would like to support our activities, please have a look at our website (www.sancecz.org) or contact us at the following addresses:

Association Chance
Hemato-Oncology Department 
Department of Pediatrics
University Hospital in Olomouc
Puškinova 6, 775 20 Olomouc
Czech Republic

Tel: (00420) 585 412 736
Account Number: 53839811/0100
IBAN: CZ8701000000000053839811
ID Number: 700 39 704
Fax: (00420) 585 852 505
e-mail: sance@sancecz.org

On behalf of Association Chance
Herta Mihálová (head of the association)
Na Trati 91, 779 00 Olomouc
Mobile number: (00420) 777 328 099
e-mail: herta.mihalova@volny.cz