Hampton, Va. – The Hampton University Proton Therapy Institute (HUPTI) has announced a partnership with Strategic Alliance Holdings, LLC (SAH) to treat cancer patients from the Middle East and North Africa, also known as the MENA region.

“With this partnership, patients with the dreaded disease of cancer in the MENA region will now have access to proton therapy,” said Keith Gregory, HUPTI executive director. “We’re able to give approximately 32 countries in the MENA region access to the most precise form of radiation in the world.”

Under the new agreement, HUPTI will also provide training for physicians and staff of SAH, for a future proton facility in Saudi Arabia, Gregory explained.

The MENA region includes the following countries of Afghanistan, Algeria, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Bahrain, Cyprus, Djibouti, Egypt, Iran, Iraq, Israel, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Libya, Malta, Mauritania, Morocco, Oman, Pakistan, Palestinian territories, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Somalia, Somaliland, Sudan, Syria, Tunisia, Turkey, United Arab Emirates, Western Sahara and Yemen.

“With the signing of this agreement between Hampton and SAH Global, we have opened a gateway to bring this cutting edge cancer treatment to patients from the MENA region,” said Feroz Agad, chairman, SAH. “We would like to commend Dr. Harvey and the team at HUPTI for what we expect will be a longstanding partnership, which will set an example globally across the healthcare industry.”

HUPTI and SAH enter into an exclusive agreement with each other, which means that the Hampton proton center will be the only proton facility in the United States that Strategic Alliance Holdings will refer cancer patients to for treatment, Gregory explained.

The first patient, as a result of the new partnership, is a four-year-old pediatric patient already undergoing treatment for a pelvic tumor, according to Edward Dickey, HUPTI chief of clinical services. “This patient is being treated with the use of anesthesia as a result of a recent partnership with Children’s Hospital of the King’s Daughter’s (CHKD) where their anesthesia physician group, Children’s Specialty Group, will administer the anesthesia,” said Dickey.