The SIOP ASIA 15th Congress held in Armenia – Yerevan State Medical University, is a starting point to have a better and more effective collaboration among particularly middle-income countries of South-East Asia. Lawrence Faulkner, YSMU Honorary Doctor, pediatric hematologist-oncologist, bone marrow transplant specialist expressed such point of view.
“I was privileged to stay in Armenia for some time, and had the local team to offer the first allogenic transplant for children with sickle cell disease, and, of course, it was very important to maximize initial success. But Armenian doctors did very well, there is no question that they can do it. I think that there is a great potential. And, after all, Armenia is not a poor country, it is a middle-income country, and there is a potential to do a lot of things”, he assured.
It is noteworthy that the famous pediatrician, who had saved thousands of children’s lives around the world, was the direct participant in the allogeneic bone marrow transplant performed for the first time in Armenia. The transplant was performed by Prof. R. H. Yolyan Hematology Center.
Related to the collaboration in the field of pediatric oncology in a broader sense and to the role of Armenia in that context, the Professor told: “There is a huge potential for people that have vision. In pediatric oncology no single country can do studies big enough to make an impact on outcomes. Otherwise, countries and professionals are necessary to come together. Of course, there means, information technologies that were not available 20 years ago. So, I think that the meeting of SIOP ASIA 15th Congress, is a starting point to have a better and more effective collaboration among particularly middle-income countries of South-East Asia. Collaboration in pediatric oncology is critical”.
The main point of his lecture was trying to convince middle-income countries that procedures that were apparently complicated like bone marrow transplantation were actually a mixture of different procedures some of which were not that complicated, and really could be simplified without compromising outcome. “The main message is trying to promote offering simplified but safe bone marrow transplantation, and we have the proof that this can be done. We know what is and what is not important, when you can save a lot of money without compromising quality. Don’t be afraid, think about it. Me and others are available online to discuss things and try to make sure that the outcomes are good like it happened in Armenia without huge amounts of money”, Lawrence Faulkner emphasized.
Speaking about the medical community in Armenia in general, he added: “I don’t see a problem with technology, a problem with knowledge, a problem with drugs. The bigger problem I see is to keep people motivated and try to minimize their desire to go to other countries and be more satisfied professionally and financially which is very normal”.