I am proud to be a pupil of the Bulgarian pediatric school.

I learned from great personalities as Prof. Vatev, Prof. Gabrovsky, Prof. Bobev, Prof. Bratanov, Prof. Lora Bakalova, Prof. Ivan Kirov, and other exceptional professionals who created the taste, responsibility and attitude to this profession. These people were saints for me.

But without love for the children and compassion for their fate you cannot be a good pediatrician. They immediately feel and respond to love. Only then do they put their trust in the doctor and rely on him. This trust is an important factor for the good development of the disease and its favorable prognosis.

When did you get interested in children's oncohematology?
In ISUL there was no hematology specialist, specialized in renowned European centers. In 1967 I went for a specialization course in France, in Montpelier. My training as a hematologist-oncologist began in a large center of hematology headed by the exceptional Prof. Pierre Casal. I never regretted I took this line. It is the specialty, which made the greatest headway in the last 30 years in the name of human health.

Where are we according to world standards?
We lost many years for a real modern adaptation to the achievements of world medicine and practice. But we, Bulgarians, are hardworking, persevering and today in the field of children's oncohematology we meet the average European standards. Maybe in future we will catch up with the advanced countries, where 80% of the children suffering from leukemia are definitely cured.

Leukemia is the basis for development of the global concept for treatment of malignant diseases in man. The first therapeutic modules were applied in pediatric practice and then borrowed and applied to adults. In our country these forms of treatment were introduced in 1969.

Why the transplantation of bone marrow became possible in Bulgaria only now?
Now we chanced on such a donor. Most successful are the operations where donors are the patient's brother or sister. Such donors are found in 15–20% of the cases and these figures are valid for all countries in Europe and America.

At present, the donor banks, the European and the world banks, have 8.8 million voluntary donors of bone marrow. This is an impressive figure, but it provides compatible non-family donors for only 70–80% of those who need it.

How many children are waiting for transplantation?
We have planned two more transplantations, one with a family and one with a non-family donor. The non-family donor was accidentally discovered within a register we make when testing the patients' relatives. A lucky chance for one more child!

The realization of transplantation is not a complicated process. But the main problem we are facing is the finding of donors. In this respect we are lagging behind because we have no donor bank that would make us an equal member of the European and the world donor banks. The state has to subsidize its foundation, which requires organization and money for consumables. This could very well be done. After all, the donor bank in Bulgaria is a national priority.

What is the cost of such an operation abroad?
It is cheapest in Israel – 130 thousand dollars. There transplantations are usually made with non-family donors, the European or the world donor bank is used. In the transplantation center in Seattle, USA, the transplantation of bone marrow costs between 250,000 and 300,000 dollars.