Due to shortage of nurses: Fewer bone marrow transplants for children at ISUL

Shortage of nurses in the largest centre for treatment of children with oncohematological diseases in the country. Because of the lack of qualified staff in the specialised clinic at ISUL hospital in Sofia, fewer bone marrow transplants are being performed. 150 children in the country hear the diagnosis of cancer every year. At present, about 300 children are under observation in the cancer centres in Sofia, Plovdiv and Varna. According to the National Centre for Public Health, since 2021 there has been about 3 thousand children with cancer in Bulgaria.

Boryana's 6-year-old son was born in the sixth month of the pregnancy. He weighed only 800 grams. He lived in hospital for 125 days after birth.

Boryana Stratieva: "He could not breathe on his own. Later he had problems with his eyes- third degree retinopathy. I mean from day 1 we had the bad prognosis, but again I say we never despaired and we never stopped believing in him because you have to believe in miracles."

Five years after birth, the child complained that his neck was stiff.

Boriana Stratieva: "After we searched for a month for the cause, it turned out that the problem was not actually in the neck but in an adrenal gland."

The then 5-year-old boy began another battle for his life - this time with a malignant cancer.

Boryana Stratieva: "With secondaries in the bone marrow and in the whole body. At the time, it was not possible to do surgery, at which point it was decided to start chemotherapy".

Within a year, Boryana's son underwent surgery to remove the tumour, more chemotherapy and immunotherapy.

Boryana Stratieva: "I continue to believe that we are at the finish line. It is indeed a very thorny, bumpy road, but I am full of faith."

The incidence of childhood cancer in Bulgaria is no different than in Europe.

Professor. Dobrin Konstantinov - Head of the Clinic of Paediatric Haematology and Oncology, Tsaritsa Ioanna University Hospital - ISUL: "Generally speaking, the registered cases in Europe are about 16 per 100 000 new patients in the paediatric population. This is also the figure in Bulgaria and it has not changed over the years".

Over the years, however, the number of nurses in the oncohematology clinic have been decreasing.

Prof. Dobrin Konstantinov: "I think it is a known problem in all areas of healthcare. But in our case it is particularly noticeable because our nurses have to be quite qualified."

There are almost no new staff, and this affects the work of the clinic.

Prof. Konstantonov: "Bone marrow transplantation requires a much higher level of patient care. We cannot compromise."

This is why children sometimes have to travel abroad for bone marrow transplants. On International Childhood Cancer Awareness Day, the Association for Children with Oncohematological Diseases reports many young patients manage to beat the disease.

Teodora Armenkova - Association "Children with Oncohematological Diseases":"I hope we will achieve an even higher percentage in Bulgaria and reach the highly developed European countries. But many children recover here too. They live their happy lives."

The association helps parents to overcome the initial shock of the diagnosis in order to support their children in the battle against cancer.