MEETING of APAKE with Sunkar Oncology center from Kazakhstan

On May 7, 2018, the Chairman of the Supervisory Board of Apake Public Foundation, Babur Tolbaev, and the Executive Director of Apake Foundation, Altynay Kozubekova, visited Sunkar Oncology Center (Almaty, Kazakhstan). The purpose of the meeting of our foundation with the management of this medical institution was to discuss possible partnership and the launch of  joint socially-oriented project "Radiotherapy Center" in Kyrgyzstan.

Sunkar medical company has more than 15 years of practical experience in treating oncological and other patients, as well as in managing 16 private medical centers and clinics in Kazakhstan. In addition, based on expert medical needs assessment, Sunkar determines and organizes the supply of high-tech medical equipment and consumables for the smooth functioning of the processes of diagnosis and treatment of patients for different types of diseases. Sunkar has more than 1,200 doctors of different specializations and more than 3 million people in the electronic patient database. www.ocs.kz

Since we were interested in radiology and radiotherapy, the Director of the clinic took us along the route by which a patient begins to receive treatment. Strangely enough, the tour started from a place that  patients do not see, but feel it with their own skin - a laundry. High-temperature washing machines dose special anti-allergen detergents and use automatic wringing and thermal ironing to prepare bed linens for patients. Cleanliness of bed linen is assessed through the absolute absence of any odor. We also visited the food block, from where patients receive diet food during their stay at the clinic. There our attention was attracted by lots of new and shiny kitchenware and a large area with separate rooms for food storage and preparation that meet all sanitary standards.

Movement and activity inside and outside the hospital are similar to a beehive, where everyone does his job without interfering with each other. It turned out that doctors work in shifts, and electronic on-line registration and pre-registration for treatment can save time, energy and resources of patients.

Now, more specifically, about the treatment block: we were allowed to the place where the oncological patients who are being prepared for radiation therapy undergo a preliminary examination. We visited the diagnostic sector, where CT (computed tomography), RMR (radio magnetic resonance), x-ray apparatus with x-ray digitization are placed. We saw the hemodialysis unit, took a look into the operating room, literally stuffed with all the necessary equipment for carrying out various surgical operations. There we witnessed a successful completion of an operation on an 8-year-old child. We saw a hall for 5 resuscitation units, empty, but always ready to maintain the patients' vital condition. And in the courtyard of the oncology center, there were two Ambulances which that morning already served 4 emergency calls for sick patients.

The main place of our tour in the oncological center was the department of radiotherapy and diagnostics. In the hall there is a convenient descent on the stairs on foot and in a wheelchair, patients are taken strictly by appointment at a specified time to avoid queues. The bunker is located behind the 3-meter thick walls with automatic locks on the thick metal doors of the bunker. We caught a radiologist examining a radiation session and witnessed a single faction - from setting the patient on the table to irradiating the site of the tumor. We managed to sit on the spot of the radiologist, which looked more like a spacecraft control panel. The complete chain of this procedure takes 10 minutes. The treatment schedule for patients of radiotherapy is very tight, for example, the last session was scheduled at half past midnight. Minimalist hospital wards are distinguished by sterile cleanliness, air ventilation and a special adapted medical beds.

Our tour in Sunkar oncology center ended with a detailed discussion of the potential partnership with the clinic from Kazakhstan under the project "Radiotherapy Center", which we and all our citizens dream to make in Kyrgyzstan.

We will inform you about the decision in the near future!