Netherlands taking in children from bombed hospital in Kyiv

On Tuesday, four young patients from the children’s hospital in Kyiv that was bombed two weeks ago will arrive at the Princess Maxima Center in Utrecht for further treatment. “We immediately knew that we had to take action. Because continuity is so important in the treatment of childhood cancer,” Rob Pieters, a pediatric oncologist at the Utrecht hospital, told RTL Nieuws.

Russia bombed the Ohmatdyt hospital in Kyiv on July 8. That same evening, the Dutch pediatric cancer center had consultations with other specialized hospitals in Europe, the United States, and Canada, Pieters said. Help was offered from all sides, but it took time to arrange. The bombing made it difficult to access information from patient files.

The Princess Maxima Center has been taking in children with cancer from Ukraine since the start of the war in February 2022. The Utrecht hospital has now treated over 120 Ukrainian kids. Some have completed their treatment, and some have returned to Ukraine. Six have succumbed to their illness.

“The Princess Maxima Center is the largest pediatric cancer center in Europe. Ukraine is a large country with many children and, therefore, also many children with cancer. Then, it goes without saying that we do what we can. We take them in and treat them with the same attention as all the other children with us,” oncologist Pieters said.