HRH Princess Katherine and her Humanitarian Foundation organized a reception marking the National Day Against Breast Cancer at the Royal Palace in Belgrade. On that occasion, the book “Living like before”, which conveys the life stories of the members of the Society for the fight against cancer from Sombor who survived this often fatal disease.
Beside Their Royal Highnesses Crown Prince Alexander and Crown Princess Katherine, the hosts at the Royal Palace, this event was also attended by Dr. Djerdji Saric, NALOR representative from Sombor, Tamara Klikovac, psychologist from the Institute for Oncology and Radiology, Mrs Sara Gojkovic, mother of Speaker of the Parliament of Serbia, Jovan Knezevic, Assistant Secretary for Health of the City of Belgrade, Ljiljana Habjanovic Djurovic, writer, representatives of the diplomatic corps and the members of the association NALOR whose stories are told in the book.
In her speech, HRH Princess Katherine said: “Breast cancer is a disease that affects many women, but thanks to these wonderful women we know that no battle is lost in advance. I want to assure you that my Foundation continues to work on the projects that will allow the rate of breast cancer to decrease. The key for breast cancer is early detection. Therefore, women should follow up on all exams”.
HRH Crown Princess Katherine Humanitarian Foundation is very active in the field of prevention and treatment of breast cancer in Serbia. It donated the first digital mobile mammography unit to Clinical Center in Nis worth over Euros 700,000 in 2009, which has been used so far to perform mammography check-ups on more than 100,000 women in Southern Serbia. Analog mammography machine was donated to the Clinical Center Bezanijska Kosa in 2007, donation of Radiology Mammography International organisation from Akron, Ohio. Founder of this organization, Prof. Richard Hirsh, M.D., F.A.C.R, and his team conducted a professional training during their visit to Serbia. Another analog mammography machine was donated to the Health Center of Cuprija in 2009. An ultrasound machine with biopsy has was donated to the Institute for Oncology and Radiology in Belgrade in January 2012, and another one was delivered to Clinical Center in Nis in May 2013.
In cooperation with Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer center in New York, and under auspices of Ministry of health of Serbia, three medical conferences on breast cancer, cervical cancer and lung cancer screening for more than 1,000 doctors in Serbia were organized in 2008, 2009 and 2011.
Thanks to the Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center in New York and the Susan G. Komen Foundation and Lifeline New York Humanitarian Organization donations worth US$ 100,000, 15 medical doctors from Serbia were sent for training in New York.
Twenty more doctors were trained in Anderson and Memorial Hermann Hospital in Houston, Texas, and this cooperation will continued in the future. We are pleased that we can announce that the first sequencer for BRKA testing for breast cancer genes will be in Serbia in less than a month at the Institute for Oncology and Radiology. This valuable equipment was purchased by joint efforts of the Crown Princess Katherine Foundation, Hemofarm Foundation, the company Astra Zeneca and the Stavros Niarchos Foundation from New York.
By organizing this event, HRH Princess Katherine and her Foundation wish to emphasize the importance of prevention and the need for regular check-ups. Also, the importance of support that women who suffer from this devastating disease should receive from their families and from society during their treatment and recovery.
