Bank of Cyprus to help build new blood research centre

€2 mln donation adds to €50 mln support for health

The Bank of Cyprus Group is contributing 2 mln euros towards the cost of building the Blood Malignancies Research Centre (KEMAK) of the Karaiskakion Institute, representing one of the four pillars of the bank’s corporate social responsibility programmes, with donations and funds raised in recent years reaching 50 mln euros.
The donation was announced at a ceremony where President Demetris Christofias handed out awards to bone marrow donors.
In a speech, the bank’s chairman Theodoros Aristodimou said the donation was part of the Group’s contribution to the health sector, with the biggest donation to date being the 27 mln for the creation and operation of the Oncological Centre in Nicosia and a further 12 mln earmarked for future plans at the Centre. He added that the bank has consistently supported the Anti-Cancer Society by raising 9.5 mln euros so far and the Group’s 12,500 staff regularly take part in the “Chain of Life” volunteer programmes.
Research at the KEMAK biomedical centre aims to help studies of blood malignacies such as leukaemia, where clinical tests are held in cooperation with Cambridge University, the University of Patra and the University of Cyprus.
Ever since the Onological Centre was established in 1998, the Bank of Cyprus Group has contributed 32 mln euros towards its construction, operation and administration, as well as the purchase of medical equipment. Recently, 9.6 mln euros was invested in a third particle accelerator and the replacement of other equipment. More than 19,000 patients have been treated at the Centre that accommodates about 170 new patients every month and 350-450 patients for other needs every day.