HAIMA - the Union for helping children with blood formation disorder

The situation of the child and the family is quite extraordinary and complex from the moment of finding out the diagnosis to the time when the child is free of physical and psychological problems and is returned to a common social life. Learning about the diagnosis presents a shock and a loss of hope for the family. Later the family faces a long-time frustration when they see the suffering of the child, who undergoes the drastic treatment with lost of external and internal defects that are eliminated or at least supressed, with the help of the medicines. The long stay in hospital does not contribute to the physical restraint, either.

HAIMA - the Union for helping children with blood formation disorder approaches the family in this situation. It brings together physicians and the parents of the children who have gone through this ordeal and due to that can offer efficient help in the course of treatment and convalescence; it can make use of all the previous experience.

HAIMA was established in 1991 as a non-profit organisation and nowadays, its relatively independent groups work in Prague, Brno, Ostrava, Hradec Králové, České Budějovice and Olomouc. The centres gather at hemato-oncological depatments of children hospitals where leukemia is treated and where they can best help to the doctors the children and their families.

It is possible to mention only a few important and typical activities in order to explain goals and ways how to reach them:

Leading the child and his (or her) family through the course of the disease to the full envolvement in the society

E.g., there is permanently a specialist - psychotherapist at the division of hematology of the 2nd pediatric department in Prague - Motol. He or she on behalf of HAIMA takes care of the children and their parents from the moment, when they learnt about the diagnosis. He or she gives them detailed information and helps to solve their social situation. HAIMA also helps organize the small patients their spare time in the wards. The children paint and their pictures are displayed at travelling exhibitions - the latest great event was the so-called Little Princes Planet and the individual exhibition at St. Agness Convent in Prague. Artists come to the wards with their programmes and also St. Nicolas and Christmas presents cannot be missed. Besides taking care of the children confined to beds there is also help to children at home, who following the intensive treatment gradually have to get used to the normal life in the society. At the winter and summer camps with reconditioning programme the children aided by doctors and psychologists test their power, regain the self-confidence and independence. Their families can see at the same time that their child is able to adept to the enviroment and they lose their excessive anxiety, resulting in the limitation of natural childrens desire to self-actualization.

Supplying the hospital wards with super-standard equipment

HAIMA helps make a more pleasant enviroment for the small patients and for the staff. It supplies the equipment for kitchens and common rooms and play rooms, helps with decorating common spaces, supplies rooms with TV-sets, videos, computers and buys books, video-cassettes and also toys for all age groups.

Cooperation with hematology wards in improving the material conditions for children leukemia treatment

The well-known finance problems of healt service institutions, which concentrate mainly in large hospitals, encourage the medical staff to look for significant sponsors, gather their financial donations and buy necessary top-quality instruments, equipment and aids. Here we can recall the expensive equipment for the molecular-genetic laboratory, purchase for matabolic scales, the irradiator of blood and blood derivates, the BACTEC diagnostic device and many other important and expensive equipments. In this connection, it is necessary to remember the fact, that HAIMA supports donations of bone marrow both through its own information activities the particular help to donor registers.

Information to the public

HAIMA considers as its duty to inform the public about the gravity of the disease, the ways of treatment, possibilities how to help ill children and their families and also medical facilities. That is, why HAIMA cooperates a number of daily newspapers and other periodicals, publishes information and advertises materials of its own and addresses the society in the radio and TV programmes. HAIMA also takes part in various culture humanitarian events and holds some events itself. Thanks to this effort and also thanks to the understanding of journalists and publishers, HAIMA is well-known to many people in this country and finds the necessary response. HAIMA members and management do all their work without reward. HAIMA existence and reaching its goals fully depend on financial support of sponsors and many anonymous benefactors. The account with the name HAIMA Praha is open with Komerční banka Praha - Centrum and number: 18 230-111/0100