TEHRAN- A free specialized care center for cancer patients will start operation by the end of the current [Iranian calendar] year (March 2020), said Fatemeh Hashemi, the head of Charity Foundation for Special Diseases. 

The Charity Foundation for Special Diseases is a public NGO entity, mostly supporting patients with chronic and terminal diseases such as cancer, multiple sclerosis (MS), kidney diseases, diabetes, thalassemia and hemophilia. 

According to Hashemi, building the center cost 6 trillion rials (around $142 million) that was collected by donations made to the NGO, IRNA reported on Wednesday. 

“Two sanatoriums for cancer and MS patients are also under construction in cities of Sari and Qazvin. These sanatoriums are particularly built for patients whose families cannot give them the proper care they need,” said Hashemi. 

“Another free hospital has also been recently built in Mesgarabad village, on the outskirts of Tehran,” she said. 

“Currently, the NGO has free health facilities in Tehran, Rafsanjan, Shahr-e Babak, Bojnurd, Borujerd and Shahrood,” she added. 

Annually, the NGO gives medical and health care to around 30,000 to 50,000 people, Hashemi remarked.
SJ/MQ/MG