KIEV, Ukraine: A telethon in Ukraine has raised nearly US$50 million for building a hospital for treatment of children with cancer, its organizers said Monday.

Sunday's four-hour show broadcast by Ukraine's 12 main TV stations featured the nation's top politicians and businessmen in an effort to help provide funds for the construction of the hospital in Kiev. The hospital's cost is estimated at 600 million hryvna (US$118.8 million; €90.7 million).

The show, which was organized by Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko's wife, Kateryna, raised some 242 million hryvna (US$47.9 million; €36.7 million), the organizers said.

Many kinds of cancer cannot be treated in Ukraine and children with these diseases currently need special treatment abroad.