Bulgarian children with the most serious cancers will be able to get treatment at the Princess Máxima Center for paediatric oncology in the Netherlands, with methods not yet used in Bulgaria. The children's haematology and oncology clinic at Queen Joanna University Hospital (ISUL) in Sofia has signed a memorandum of cooperation with the centre, the biggest in Europe for childhood cancer.

Hospital director Lyubomir Penev and Prof Rob Pieters, co-founder of the Dutch centre and president of the World Association of Paediatric Oncology, signed the document. The ceremony took place at the hospital in Sofia.

Bulgarian doctors will be able to join training courses and weekly discussions in specialist boards, which are teams of experts. The aim is to bring the highest European and world standards in the care of children with cancer to Bulgaria.

Specialists from ISUL will study at close hand how the centre brings everything a sick child needs together in one place. This includes long-term follow-up of children who have been cured, care for a good quality of life, palliative care to ease pain and suffering, and psychosocial support.

Prof Pieters said care for these children in Bulgaria is spread across separate units. Parents sometimes take a sick child abroad and lose time and money, he said. The best solution, he said, is to treat children with cancer in one place.

Prof Pieters said the cooperation is needed so that every child gets care and treatment. He said it leads to better diagnosis, data collection and a role in European studies, and so to more children being cured. He added that the merger of the centres in the Netherlands lets the centre help children from other countries too.

Prof Boryana Avramova, head of the clinic, said the memorandum will give doctors access to training and let children get the best possible treatment. "In our daily work we put in not only professionalism, heart and soul, but that is not enough, because big victories come when efforts are joined," she told the ceremony, BTA reported.

Director Penev said the document gives the clinic's team a chance to build on its knowledge and "check its clock" in the care of children with cancer.

Health minister Katya Ivkova congratulated the management of the hospital and of the Dutch centre. She said the memorandum will be a basis for better care for children with cancer and for sharing skills and good ideas. In her view, the centre's experience is the best in paediatric oncology in the European Union.

Greetings were also delivered at the ceremony on behalf of Dr Vladimir Daskalov, head of the National Health Insurance Fund (NZOK), and Prof Boycho Landzhov, rector of the Medical University of Sofia. Ivaylo Petrov of the Bulgarian National Hub of the Mission on Cancer also gave his greetings in person.

The initiative fits directly with the aims of the hub, which is now being set up.