House President Annita Demetriou said she would always support the work of Karaiskakio Foundation as she praised the altruism of 95 people who donated bone marrow to cancer patients between 2019 to 2021.

Speaking during a Karaiskakio Foundation event to celebrate volunteer bone marrow donors late on Thursday, Demetriou congratulated the donors “for the gift of life” they offered to other people “but also for the opportunity you offered them to move forward in the future with hope and optimism”.

She also praised the staff of Karaiskakio who helped create one of the best centres in the world in the field of haematology, with specialised and accredited diagnostic laboratories.

In recent years, the foundation has provided targeted and personalised treatment to child patients, Annita said.

The House president said that personally, but also through her position, would always be a support and be at the disposal of the foundation, adding that “one child’s smile is worth the whole world”.

Karaiskakio was established in Cyprus in 1996 and has since formed the largest Bone Marrow Donor Registry per capita worldwide, with more than 190,000 Turkish and Greek Cypriots.