Carmen Uscatu: Transforming our approach to pediatric cancer care

Carmen Uscatu, President and co-founder of Give Life, posted on LinkedIn:

“Why?

In Romanian, we say: ‘Tell me who you associate with, and I’ll tell you who you are.’

I will explain WHY Give Life strongly supports the collaboration between Marie Curie Children’s Hospital and St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital.

First, let’s look at what this collaboration means in concrete terms:

• One oncologist is currently enrolled in a two-year fellowship in neuro-oncology at this prestigious institution.
• One oncologist participated in a six-month online course in critical care.
• The nurses in the oncology department are currently enrolled in a six-month online course.
• One surgeon undertook a one-month observership at St. Jude.

These opportunities are not just about acquiring new skills and knowledge; they are about transforming our approach to pediatric cancer care.

Second, why St. Jude?

‘In 1962, cancer was a virtual death sentence for children – only 20% survived a diagnosis of cancer. In the case of acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL), the most common form of childhood cancer, the survival rate was a grim 4%. St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital would change those somber statistics. Treatments invented at St. Jude have helped push the overall survival rate for childhood cancer to more than 80% today, and the survival rate for ALL stands at 94% for children treated at St. Jude. But until survival rates for these diseases reach 100% and every child treated is able to lead a full, healthy life, St. Jude will continue working at the leading edge of science and medicine to discover better ways to prevent, diagnose and treat these life-threatening diseases. At St. Jude, we won’t stop until no child dies from cancer.’

The reason why I’m so grateful to have a fully funded scholarship for a master’s in global child health for two years at St. Jude, I will explain later.”

Carmen Uscatu is the President and co-founder of Dăruiește Viață /Give Life, one of the most well known NGOs in Romania and the NGO that has started and has implemented the initiative #WeBuildAHospital – building a children’s Hospital for scratch, exclusively from donations and sponsorships, a Hospital dedicated to ensuring multidisciplinary care to children with severe diseases, with a focus on cancer. She started volunteering in her free time before founding Dăruiește Viață, in 2012, with the purpose of drastically changing the way medical care is provided in Romania. 

By the end of 2023, Dăruiește Viață had invested over 76M EUR in the public health system, implementing infrastructure projects, donating medical equipments, supporting patients and medical staff. The Hospital built in Bucharest is currently functional, treating children in the following specialties: oncology, neurosurgery, surgery, ICU and operating theatre with 5 operating rooms. In addition, the Hospital will include in the near future a transplant department and a radiotherapy department. Besides the Hospital, Dăruiește Viață has modernised and brought to nowadays standards oncology departments for children and adults in 8 hospitals across the country, has built 20 clean rooms thus tripling Romania’s transplant capacity, has built and equipped two laboratories for in-depth diagnosis of leukemia, has built two modular ICU hospitals during the pandemic and has donated over 17 tons of PPE. The Hospital project continues with the NGO planning to develop the project into the first pediatric medical campus in Romania.