FedEx and St. Jude Hospital seek cooperation opportunities in healthcare

At the meeting, Vietnamese Minister of Health Dao Hong Lan expressed her joy at the increasingly strong development of the St. Jude Global Alliance in caring for children with cancer and other serious diseases. Since its establishment in 2018, the St. Jude Global Alliance Asia-Pacific has become a growing community with more than 50 medical organisations and 10 foundations from 13 countries.

Minister of Health Dao Hong Lan met with representatives of FedEx Group and St. Jude Hospital. Photo: MoH

The Ministry of Health (MoH) also highly appreciates the efforts and contributions of FedEx Group to socioeconomic development in Vietnam as well as supporting the cooperation with St. Jude Hospital.

At the meeting, FedEx and St. Jude Hospital proposed discussing the current situation of paediatric haematology/oncology in Vietnam; building cancer data and registration to improve the quality of treatment and care for children with cancer; referral routes and access to essential diagnoses for children with cancer; access to quality drugs for treating cancer in children; and strengthen training courses and cooperation in paediatric haematology/oncology.

According to experts, childhood cancer is one of the leading causes of death in children under 15 years old. In Vietnam, it is estimated that there are about 3,000 new cases of childhood cancer each year, of which the most common diseases are acute lymphoblastic leukaemia, brain tumours, nuroblastoma, and sarcoma.

In recent years, with the efforts of the health sector and international cooperation, the survival rate of paediatric cancer patients has improved, with some diseases achieving a survival rate of over 80 per cent. However, there are still many major challenges that need to be researched, such as the application of modern technology, medical equipment, and rare drugs to support the treatment of paediatric cancer patients.

FedEx and St. Jude Hospital have introduced new and rare drugs following legal procedures to help hospitals expand access to essential chemicals and targeted drugs for treating paediatric patients with relapsed or refractory B-cell acute lymphoblastic leukaemia.

Minister Lan also proposed FedEx Group and St. Jude Hospital support the development of a national strategy on cancer prevention and control to improve the quality of human resources through training courses for paediatric oncologists.

It is expected that FedEx and St. Jude will continue to cooperate to support Vietnamese children by building a 500-bed paediatric cancer centre so that patients can enjoy better and more modern care and treatment with the goal of humane social security for children.

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