The Presence of MAHAK in 2018 World Cancer Congress

MAHAK – the Society to Support Children Suffering from Cancer participated in the 2018 World Cancer Congress as a full member of Union for International Cancer Control (UICC) in Kuala Lumpur Convention Centre (KLCC) on 1-4 October 2018. In addition, in the exhibition section of the event, called the Global Village, MAHAK had a booth, for the first time, in which different activities had been devised for the visitors. The Global Village usually welcomes about 60 exhibiting organizations from all over the world, encouraging cultural diversity and intercultural dialogue.

MAHAK had a booth in this event in order to introduce its mission to other organizations for which different activities had been devised for the visitors. A big interesting drawing was installed on one side of MAHAK’s booth which had been painted by MAHAK children and the visitors painted the plain parts to complete their drawing or wrote messages of hope on it for MAHAK children wishing them complete health and recovery. In addition, a big world map was designed so that the visitors could pin small pieces of paper containing their information to their own country in case they were eager to collaborate with MAHAK in different fields. In total about 100 pins were stock into the map.

Arasb Ahmadian, the CEO of MAHAK and the Chairman of Iranian National Cancer Network was present in MAHAK’s booth in the global village in announced hours and numerous organizations’ representatives from all over the world had meetings with him. As a result of this, MAHAK had fruitful discussions in the meetings and benefitted from the most recent knowledge and experiences of other organizations.

During the four-day event in conjunction with the WCC several specialists and prominent individuals in the field of cancer from all over the world visited the booth of MAHAK in the global village including Professor Eric Bouffet, the head of International Society for Pediatric Oncology (SIOP), Princess Dina Mired, the President of UICC and Cary Adams, CEO of UICC. They wrote messages for MAHAK children on the drawing encouraging them to stand strongly against their diseases.

On the third day of the event, Arasb Ahmadian the CEO of MAHAK and the Chairman of Iranian National Cancer Network had a poster presentation under the title of “The Most Effective Engagement Approach in Non-Participatory Conditions” in which he highlighted the significance of the collaboration between the three pillars of each society which are governments, business entities and community-based organizations in achieving the goal of “access for all” in cancer treatment.

Being present in international arenas has always paved the way for MAHAK to expand collaborations with other organizations to provide more efficient services for children with cancer and their families. Participating in 2018 World Cancer Congress resulted in making known the range and type of activities of MAHAK to other centers which work in the same field as this organization and there was an opportunity for MAHAK to gain up-to-date knowledge for providing the best healthcare and supportive services to cancer-stricken children.