On the 20th of March 2014, at the Children’s Oncology Unit “Marianna V. Vardinoyannis-ELPIDA”, the official opening of the Bone Marrow Donor Bank “ORAMA ELPIDAS” was held in the presence of representatives of the Church, the State, the diplomatic world, the scientific community, members of the Association of Friends of Children with cancer “ELPIDA”, friends and supporters of the Association.

The Bone Marrow Donor Bank “ORAMA ELPIDAS”, which was founded by the Association of Friends of Children with Cancer “ELPIDA”, was officially opened in Athens, Greece. It works in the Children’s Oncology Unit “Marianna V. Vardinoyannis- ELPIDA” and fills a big gap in the health sector: finding a compatible transplant for patients who need a bone marrow transplant. The need of a compatible transplant obliged families to look to bone marrow banks abroad, requiring many months of waiting and high costs of insurance funds until now. The operation of the Bone Marrow Donor Bank “ORAMA ELPIDAS“ is becoming a new ally for many patients, both children and adults.

The opening ceremony started with the speech of the President of the “ELPIDA” Association and “ORAMA ELPIDAS” Association, Mrs Marianna V. Vardinoyannis, who addressed a national call for the participation of volunteers and donors to enrich the Bank with thousands of samples: “…Our effort, Mrs Vardinoyannis said, comes to encourage our society to participate in a new action, purely voluntary and humanitarian, which requires deep personal involvement and commitment of as many people as possible. Because thousands of samples are necessary in order to find a compatible donor… And I am sure that our society will respond and will stand by our side as it always did whenever requested… The Bone Marrow Donor Bank is a Bank of Life and it comes to fill a large gap in health sector in our country. Through this, we will have more chances to find compatible bone marrow transplants, quickly and inexpensively for patients in Greece and abroad, whether child or adult. Our connection with global bone marrow registries through our advanced computer program will create bridges of solidarity between Greece and the whole world … Our goal is to create a large network of life and hope…”.

HB Metropolitan of Syros and Tinos Dorotheus, the Minister of Health Mr. Adonis Georgiadis, the Minister of Culture Mr. Panos Panagiotopoulos, the Minister of Tourism Mrs Olga Kefalogianni, the President of the National Transplant Organization Professor Alcibiades Costakis, the CEO of Children’s Hospital “Agia Sofia” Mr. Emmanuel Papasavas, the Director of the Karaiskakio Foundation of Cyprus Dr. Paul Kosteas, the Rector of the University of Patras Professor George Panagiotakis, the Director of the Bone Marrow Transplantation Unite Dr. Stelios Grafakos and the Messenger of ELPIDA Sakis Rouvas, who is leading the awareness campaign with three TV spots, attended the ceremony and addressed the opening of the Bone Marrow Donor Bank.