TRH Crown Prince Alexander and Crown Princess Katherine together with the Minister of Health, HE Dr Zlatibor Loncar, opened the 56th Cancer Conference Week, a national annual oncology congress with international participation, organized by the Cancer Section of the Serbian Medical Society, under auspices of HRH Crown Princess Katherine, taking place 6-9 November 2019, at the Crowne Plaza Hotel in Belgrade.
The start of the congress was marked by address of Crown Prince Alexander and Princess Katherine, as well as Minister of Health of Serbia, HE Dr Zlatibor Loncar, President of Serbian Medical Society Oncology Section, Prof. Dr Radan Dzodic, President of Serbian Medical Society, Prof. Dr Radoje Colovic, Director of the Institute of Public Health of Serbia “Milan Jovanovic Batut”, Prof. Dr Verica Jovanovic and Deputy Director for Research and Education at the Institute for Oncology and Radiology of Serbia, Prof. Dr Marina Nikitovic.
Princess Katherine and her Humanitarian Foundation have been working for years on education and raising awareness about cancer prevention. Their Royal Highnesses Crown Prince Alexander and Crown Princess Katherine have donated the most advanced and first mobile mammography unit at that time in 2009 to Clinical center Nis. That unit was worth 900,000 EUR and over 100,000 patients were examined by it.
Royal Couple have also donated mammography machines to radiology department of Cuprija General Hospital and Clinical center Bezanijska Kosa in Belgrade, as well as two ultrasound machines for breast examination to Institute for Oncology in Belgrade and Clinic for Radiology in Nis. In May 2015, Their Royal Highnesses Crown Prince Alexander and Crown Princess Katherine in association with Hemofarm Foundation and Astra Zeneca provided sequencer of last generation to the Institute for Oncology and Radiology of Serbia, while no other health institution in Serbia have had such an advanced device, that can test cancer genes, with multiple genes and samples simultaneously, which significantly reduce the time for testing. That same year 3 ultra sound machines worth 94,000 EUR were donated to Clinical Centre of Serbia’s Gynecology and Obstetrics Clinic in Belgrade. Two years after, Crown Princess Katherine Foundation deliver 300,000 EUR mammography machine and patient monitor to Clinical Centre Nis, followed by donation of latest technology mammography workstation in 2019, that would complement the work of the previously donated mammography.
In 2019 alone, the Crown Princess Katherine’s Foundation donated over 10 infusion pumps for the treatment of women with breast cancer to the Institute of Oncology of Vojvodina, a Toyota vehicle for the transport of the chemotherapy patients to the General Hospital in Cacak, cancer gene testing equipment worth over 30,000 EUR and a state-of-the-art breast ultrasound device to Institute of Oncology and Radiology of Serbia.
Thanks to the support of the HRH Crown Princess Katharine’s Foundation, this year’s Congress had plenary lectures by the two speakers from the Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in New York, USA. Educational part on the first day of Congress was opened with “New horizons in oncologic imaging” lectured by Prof. Dr. Hedvig Hricak, Chairman of the Department of Radiology at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center and former Lifeline NY Board Member, followed by the lecture of Prof. Dr. Heiko Schoder, Chief of Molecular Imaging and Therapy Service at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center about “The role of PET imaging in the diagnostic and follow-up of patients with cancer – solid tumors”. There is over 500 doctors and medical nurses registered for this congress, and lecturers are top experts from Serbia and other countries.
The Crown Princess Katherine’s Foundation will organize a formal dinner at the Royal Palace in honor of the organizers and lecturers from Serbia and abroad, who supported and participated in the Congress.
Princess Katherine is helping our doctors and nurses, and Her Royal Highness’ Foundation will organize the first Serbian Diaspora Nurses Conference at the Metropol Hotel 23 – 25 April 2020 and the 11th Serbian Diaspora Medical Conference 18 – 20 June 2020, also at the Metropol Hotel.