The misery of cancer patients during the eighties and nineties pushed a group of patriotic Egyptians to establish an Association with the goal of improving the quality of life of cancer patients in the National Cancer Institute, NCI, and reduce their suffering.

Back in 1998, a number of NCI’s pediatric oncologists along with Society’s renowned businessmen and charitable women of the Society established what was then called the Association of Friends of the National Cancer Institute, AFNCI, as a non-profit organization committed to improving the lives of cancer patients at the NCI through facility development, upgrade and healthcare staff training. The association played an essential role in improving the health outcome of children with cancer at the NCI. 

The departed professor Dr. Reda Hamza, the NCI director at that time, was the first president for the Association that gathered businessmen, pediatric oncologists and society’s charitable women such as Eng. Hossam Kabani, Mr. Mohammed Moheb, Dr. Sherif Abouel Naga, Mrs Somaia Abu Aleinain, Mrs. Sohair Farghaly, Mrs Frkreya Abdel Hamid and Mrs. Ola Ghabour who later on occupied the position of Secretary General of the Children’s Cancer Hospital Foundation 57357. Since the inception of the Association, Mrs. Ghabour, along with Dr. Manal Zamzam, professor at the NCI and Canadian nurse Mrs. Patricia Pruden exerted much efforts in fundraising for all the development projects to improve the conditions and health outcomes of children with cancer. 

Since its establishment in 1998, AFNCI succeeded in supporting the NCI with projects that costed 20 million pounds. Within the projects implemented in the NCI, The development of the pediatric unit, the first clinical pharmacy in Egypt, the pediatric outpatient’s clinics, virology, microbiology, cytogenetics laboratories, the upgrading of the blood bank program and the establishment of out-patients clinics that accept hundreds of cancer patients every day.

The Association supported the Children’s Cancer Hospital Egypt 57357 project since its beginnings as it was responsible for tenders, design, constructions, electrical and mechanical works, internal decoration and equipment. In 2004,  the 57357 Foundation was instituted to take on the responsibilities of the following stages of the project starting with the launch of operations, overseeing its sustainability and its subsequent progress and development. 

The Children’s Cancer Hospital Egypt 57357 became the largest hospital in the Middle East and Africa for treating children with cancer.