By Daniel Scola
Zero Hora – 12/01/2023
Saving lives from cancer
A businessman from Porto Alegre is making a physical and financial commitment to finding a cure for brain cancer in children. It is an innovative project that will mean a lot for global health. With the Medulloblastoma Initiative (MB Initiative), Fernando Goldsztein managed to raise around US$7 million in less than two years (half of it from his own pocket) to fund research in the United States.
The goal is to reach $15 million. Fernando is too humble to tell the details without sounding self-congratulatory. But I can and will.
It was a family case that mobilized the businessman. He discovered that there was no treatment protocol for patients with recurrent medulloblastoma, which developed in 25,000 children in one year. Data indicate that 10,000 children died without much hope. This has been happening for over 30 years.
I haven’t been a child for a long time, but as an adult, I discovered the same tumor in my head. I am one of those saved, thanks to science, good professionals and a good hospital. I have seen many children along the long path I have traveled and nothing is more moving than the little ones suffering.
In September 2022, the renowned American journal Nature published the findings of research that is close to the recipe for fighting cancer. The work is funded by the initiative of the Porto Alegre businessman and endorsed by a Brazilian specialist. Oncologist André Fay confirms that this research will find a cure.
Funding from the Medulloblastoma Initiative pays for research in 11 different hospitals around the world: eight in the US, two in Canada and one in Germany, all led by American doctor Roger Packer, considered the pope of pediatric oncology. Fernando, 56, says that even if he has achieved success in curing this type of cancer, he will not stop there.
The explanation for the investment in research outside Brazil is simple: in other countries, there are already ongoing investigations. The laboratories are better equipped and the researchers are more accustomed to philanthropy. Fernando remembers it all. In the United States, of every dollar invested in the fight against cancer, 96 cents are for types that affect adults and only four for diseases in children. Oncologist André Fay guarantees that the study can be used for treatment anywhere in the world, including in Brazil.
Original article: Zero Hora
