Siena, March 27-28: The Cure2Children Foundation hosted a two day conference to discuss the Pakistan project. Attendees included staff from the Cure2Children Foundation, Shaukat Khanum Memorial Hospital, Mediterranean Institute of Hematology, Fatimid Foundation, Metrics Research, The Children's Hospital of Lahore, Shifa International Hospital, Aga Khan University Hospital, Bismillah Taqee Institute, Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences, and the UK Association for Medical Aid to Pakistan. The project is a collaborative network to cure thalassemia and to support the development of a thalassemia transplant network in Pakistan by providing financial and professional support to the 5 selected institutions starting no later than mid-2008. The endpoint is to obtain at least an 80% thalassemia-free survival rate in the total group of 30 patients.

Each hospital had the opportunity to present their current situation and pose any questions or uncertainties to the rest of the group. Dr. Lawrence Faulkner, from Cure2Children Foundation, thoroughly reviewed the project process, financials, and legal agreements to be made between the Cure2Children Foundation and each participating hospital. Overall, the conference was a huge success. Open discussions were encouraged, reinforcing our importance on transparent collaboration between all participants. The project is moving ahead according to plan and we expect to begin our first transplantation in June.

Workshop presentations
 

• The MIH experience, Guido Lucarelli
• Thalassemia supportive care at PIMS, Tahira Zafar
• Transplantation for thalassemia at Bismillah Taqee, Tahir Shamsi
• Transplant activity at Aga Khan University, Salman Adil
• Prevention and management of infections, Saqib Ansari
• Supportive care (central lines, nutrition, transfusions), Lawrence Faulkner
• Clinical research support in Pakistan, Khurram Khan
• Family support: problems and answers, Adina Salehi and Sadaf Khalid
• Open source web tools for knowledge and data management, Luigi Clemente
• Professional staff support and motivation, Lawrence Faulkner
• Support to a thalassemia cure and prevention network in Pakistan: financial issues and institutional agreements, Lawrence Faulkner

Partecipants
 

• Mrs Adina Salehi
• Dr Alia Zaidi
• Dr Cristiano Gallucci
• Mr Khalid Zaman
• Dr Kurrham Zaki Khan
• Dr Luigi Clemente
• Dr Nisar Ahmed
• Dr Paola Polchi
• Dr Pietro Sodani
• Dr Rashid Kamran
• Dr Sadaf Khalid
• Dr Salman Adil
• Dr Saqib Ansari
• Dr Tahir Shamsi
• Dr Tahira Zafar
• Mrs Virginia Gumley
• Mrs Yasmin Salim

Workshop partecipants

Cure2Children members