Press Releases

Budapest, January 15, 2004 15:30

Earlier this week the communication director of Matáv Dr. Bálint Nagy presented a donation of 2 million HUF to the National Oncology Institute through the Tumor Surgery Foundation. The Institute will use the money to buy chest surgery equipment. The Endre Hedri Foundation for the Injured also received a donation of 2 million HUF, which will be used to improve the operating conditions of the Traumatology Department of the St. John Hospital.

Dr. Emil Farkas, president of the board of trustees of the Tumor Surgery Foundation, said on receiving the 2 million HUF donation: "This sum will be used by the National Oncology Institute to buy a hand-held gamma scan. With the help of this equipment costing over 7 million HUF for a single unit, we can facilitate the healing process of some 600-700 patients annually. Thanks to the widespread information campaigns over the past two decades, we have witnessed much progress in the early detection of breast cancer. The proportion of tumor cases with transfer to the lymphatic glands in the armpits has considerably declined. The removal of the lymphatic glands in the armpits has been an integral part of the treatment of breast cancer for over a hundred years, but as a result of recent research, in many cases the removal of only the so-called sentinel lymph node offers a solution for the problem. To facilitate surgical intervention and establish the position of the sentinel node, we perform an isotope test for which we use a hand-held infra-operative gamma scan. This instrument was also purchased with Matáv assistance in 2002. As a result of the mammography screening tests, the number of surgical interventions has increased and demand for the instrument has grown. It is again a Matáv donation that makes it possible for us to purchase another hand-held gamma scan device."

Dr. László Juhász, president of the board of trustees of the Endre Hedri Foundation said at the donation ceremony: "The Traumatology Department of the St. John Hospital already acts as the regional hospital of the Buda area, offering round-the-clock emergency admission service seven days of the week. The hospital has 104 beds and we perform 3000 major surgeries a year. The Foundation has reached an agreement with the Hospital that we will jointly finance the establishment of two 2-bed hospital rooms, whose total cost is 7 million HUF. With Matáv’s 2 million HUF donation the Foundation has raised its own part of the money, so nothing stands in the way of starting this joint project with the Hospital."

Dr. Bálint Nagy, communication director of Matáv, said: "As responsible corporate citizen, Matáv considers it extremely important to be involved, through its donation activity, in supporting health and welfare institutions in need of such assistance, and in this way expressing its sensitivity towards the problems of the community. In 2003, Matáv gave donations worth 75 million HUF to various foundations and associations. In addition, we have collected almost 50 million HUF through the Matáv donations line for nine non-profit organizations."