"For Them"
When our organization was founded in 2007, it was called "The Israeli Center for a Better Childhood" and started its journey with one project: providing medication for children battling oncological and hematological diseases. Since then, and now under the Habogrim association, we continue to run this life-saving fundamental initiative.
The "For Them" program is conducted in collaboration with the Israeli Association of Pediatric Hematology and Oncology. Under the program, innovative medications that are not included in the healthcare basket are given to children whose disease has returned or who are not responding to treatment. These are very expensive drugs that many families can’t afford to purchase. Each year, the program treats between 30 and 45 children from across the country and from all sectors of the population. Our goal, our aspiration, our hope – is to improve the children's chances of beating their debilitating disease and growing up like any healthy child in Israel.
Hello,
For nearly two decades, we, the representatives of the Israeli Society of Pediatric Hematology and Oncology, have been partners in the "For Them" program, established for children with cancer in Israel. The project was built with the vision to provide Israeli children suffering from hematological/oncological diseases the right to be treated with advanced medications that cannot be obtained through public health funds.
As a board member for 8 years and now as the Chairperson of the Israeli Society of Pediatric Hematology and Oncology, it is a great honor to be involved in approving every treatment request, based on clear and agreed-upon guidelines set by the heads of pediatric hematology and oncology departments across the country.
The treatments provided through the program have so far allowed nearly 800 children to receive proven effective therapies, enabling recovery, life extension, or an improvement in quality of life. It is hard to describe the satisfaction on our part as doctors and the joy of the patients when we can provide these special medications!
This program allows us to maintain a high quality of innovative therapies and position Israel among the best in the world in terms of treatment levels.
On behalf of the board of the Israeli Society of Pediatric Hematology and Oncology, the doctors, the patients in Israel, and especially the sick children and their families, I thank you for the continued operation of the project, and personally for the privilege of being part of this generous and unique life project.
Best regards,
Dr. Joan Yakobovitz
"The goal of the project is to enable children with hematological and oncological diseases to receive life-saving/extending drugs that are not in the healthcare basket and cannot be obtained through the health fund or the pharmaceutical companies. I can see and hear the happiness and gratitude of the doctors when they can successfully approve the drugs for the patients. It is an honor for me to be part of this activity, which provides such significant assistance in treating the patients."
Chairperson of the Doctors' Committee of the Habogrim association -
Dr. Shifra Ash, Director of the Pediatric Hemato-Oncology and Bone Marrow Transplant Division at Ruth Rappaport Children's Hospital,
Rambam Health Campus in Haifa
