BNP Paribas Brazil has given its support to GRAACC (“Grupo de Apoio ao Adolescente e à Criança com Câncer” or Support Group for Children and Adolescents with Cancer) and the Pediatric Oncology Institute. GRAACC is a non-profit institution that was created in 1991 in order to ensure children and adolescents with cancer, the right to be adequately and properly treated. The GRAACC hospital offers free treatment to children and adolescents from all over Brazil, providing a very high level of care, and performing thousands of medical procedures per month: including doctor’s appointments, chemotherapy treatments, and surgeries.

Absorbing the demand throughout the State of São Paulo and other states in the country, GRAACC is a national reference in pediatric oncology and provides medical care for more than 300 new cases per year. With growing demand, the institute has been working close to maximum capacity. Their expansion project, which will be completed in 2012, intends to extend all services provided by GRAACC through the expansion of the hospital.

Offering high complexity services means performing complicated and lengthy surgeries which results in a greater occupancy of beds, for a longer period of time. A new operating room and additional beds will ensure care for the growing demand, maintaining their high quality standard. The expansion of the Diagnostic Imaging Center will guarantee for a far greater number of patients, accurate and immediate exams. The new Rehabilitation Unit will enable an increasing number of patients to go through a complete service for rehabilitation.

GRAACC is also a center for training professionals specialized in pediatric oncology and multidisciplinary approaches. With the expansion of clinical, surgical and biological research, GRAACC will be able to train more professionals who will share the knowledge and skills they acquired at the Pediatric Oncology Institute. The hospital will also be able to promote distance learning and knowledge exchange with international reference centers for pediatric cancer.