BENU Aptieka organized for a fourth year in a row a charity campaign With sincerity against the disease! Donate together with BENU!, during which donations were collected in cooperation with the Children’s Hospital Fund (CHF) for children who had been diagnosed with oncological diseases and lacked resources to pay those expenses which are not compensated by the state. This year BENU Aptieka, supported by its clients, donates EUR 12,000 to the CHF, but the total amount donated so far during the charity campaign With sincerity against the disease! Donate together with BENU! has reached EUR 69,000.
To draw public attention to the issue of children’s oncology and inform parents about the practical and emotional support available in case of a child’s disease, BENU Aptieka organized podcast Pediatric oncology and emotional support, in which Liene Indrāne, the head of the Parents’ House of CHF, and Inese Lietaviete, a clinical psychologist, participated.
Both experts agree that it is important to provide comprehensive support to children as well as their parents in the emotionally difficult, time consuming and expensive process of treating oncological diseases. Although a large part of pediatric oncology treatment costs is covered from the state budget, there are still some expenses not paid by the state. Therefore, public involvement is particularly important in the treatment of pediatric oncology patients. With EUR 69,000 collected during four years of BENU Aptieka’s charity campaign With sincerity against the disease! Donate together with BENU!, support was provided to more than 100 little oncopatients, including the provision of medicines to outpatients, paying for specific medical examinations, accommodation and costs of travelling to and from hospitals abroad, L. Indrāne explains.
L. Indrāne tells that the Parents’ House of CHF offers parents practical and varied support – their can cook their own food, wash and dry clothes, and relax there. Parents have also access to emotional and psychological support provided by a professional psychologist and a chaplain. Before the Covid-19 pandemic, they were also offered the support of SPA specialists and hairdressers, so that they could take care of themselves and regain energy during the break.
As regards pediatric oncology, the role of communication between parents, medical staff and support staff has always been emphasised. I. Lietaviete notes that in case of an oncological disease doubt and ignorance alternates with hope, therefore, it is important to strengthen the sense of reasonable, realistic expectations in parents, as it gives them strength not to get tired and to do everything necessary in the process of treatment. If parents trust doctors, the child will definitely feel it, and will be more confident and open for the treatment process.
