Skopje, 1 July 2024 (MIA) -- The University Clinic for Children's Diseases has signed a memorandum of cooperation with Princess Máxima Center for Pediatric Oncology from the Netherlands, Europe's largest childhood cancer center, the Ministry of Health said Tuesday in a press release.

The cooperation aims to improve the treatment of children with cancer in the country through training, sharing specialist knowledge, developing treatment protocols, introducing stem cell transplantation and gene therapy, participation in clinical trials and implementing advanced molecular diagnostics and cancer genome sequencing.

As part of their visit to Skopje, the Utrecht delegation met with Minister of Health Azir Aliu, who gave his support to the cooperation initiative, the release said.

"We are impressed by the ambitions of the Skopje center. This fits into our European partnership program perfectly," pediatric oncologist Rob Pieters of the Princess Máxima Center said.

According to the Princess Máxima Center's Outreach website, every year, more than 400,000 children worldwide are affected by cancer.

"In the poorest countries in the world, the chance of a cure for childhood cancer is less than 10%, compared to 75% in countries such as the Netherlands.

"One of the reasons for the low cure rate is the lack of knowledge among local doctors and nurses. For this reason, the Princess Máxima Center started the Outreach program in 2018," its website says. mr/