City of Smile Boston Friends Organize an Evening to Benefit Children with Cancer in Armenia

There is nothing more heartrending than the sight of children suffering. One of the plagues children face everywhere is cancer. In Armenia, their affliction is made worse due to the lack of resources that are more readily available in the West. American Armenians who came face to face with this difficult situation could not but take action. Now they in turn reach out to the broader community in an effort to create a future in which Armenian children get the same level of treatment as in the United States. On April 5, an evening at the Westin Waltham Hotel featuring Anna Hakobyan, Honorary Chair of the City of Smile Charitable Foundation and spouse of Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan, will give the public the opportunity to support this vital humanitarian cause.

Today, children in Armenia with cancer primarily come to the Muratsan Chemotherapy Clinic in Yerevan for treatment. Amazingly, treatment is completely free. Children from Artsakh and Javakhk also come here, and even occasionally non-Armenian children from other places. Despite the successes that have been achieved until now by dedicated staff fighting heavy odds, there are many difficulties that this clinic and the medical system in Armenia must overcome in order to provide treatment on a level and scale parallel to that offered in Western countries.