By: CECÍLIA PIRES
PAPERWORK COULD delay an application for EU funding of a new radiotherapy unit in Faro, says a leading Algarve cancer charity.
The Oncological Association of the Algarve, Associação Oncológica do Algarve (AOA), is still waiting for the Health Ministry to give the go-ahead for the unit but says “demanding” paperwork may put an application for EU funds at risk.
The plan is to add the facility to Casa das Dunas, or the ‘dune house’, which is a temporary residency for cancer patients who travel from all over the Algarve for medical treatment in Faro.
According to the AOA president Dr Santos Pereira, “the association already has a radiotherapy unit operational but we will soon reach the limit of the capacity as the demand is high”.
“According to experts”, he says, “the unit in Faro is of extreme quality, as we have good and modern equipment and every patient is treated on time”.
“To keep up with this quality standard,” he says, “a new facility will have to be built and the temporary residency project could accommodate it.”
The AOA president told The Resident that the existing radiotherapy centre represented an investment of around 1.5 million euros and the radiotherapy facility cost 400,000 euros, with most of the money coming from donations and events organised by the association over the last 14 years.
Both projects are being supported by funds raised by the AOA and donations, such as the Mamamaratona, which is sponsored by The Resident, one of most visible activities of the AOA.
Portimão branch
The AOA has many more activities to help those who experience or still suffer with cancer related disease, said Dr Santos Pereira. “We recently opened a new branch in Portimão at Urbanização do Pimentel, near Bairro dos Bicos, which is offering more services in better premises.”
The Portimão branch offers counselling and psychological support as well as breast and hair prosthetics and special underwear for people with prosthesis.
At the Faro branch, the AOA also offers these services, complemented by legal support and psychiatric and psychological counselling.
A new service is also being provided in Faro, by appointment only, for patients who suffer from colon cancer and need surgery.
The preventive medicine, through the breast cancer scanning unit and the many information and training sessions organised in different parts of the Algarve, is “a very important part of our work at AOA”, Dr Pereira says, adding that “we could just be doing charity lunches and selling raffle tickets, but we decided to go further for those who count on our help”.
Running against cancer
THE BREAST CANCER marathon, MAMAMARATONA 2008, is being held on October 12, from 10am, at the Fair and Exhibitions Park in Portimão.
To participate, a registration form can be submitted by post by October 3 to the AOA in Faro. Registration may also be done on October 11 at the fair until 6.30pm or the following day, until 9.45am.
To register, participants pay seven euros, a fee that includes a t-shirt and a hat. Children under 12 pay three euros and also get a t-shirt and a hat.
For detailed information, visit www.mamamaratona.com The website is in both Portuguese and English.
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