Every child, anywhere in the world, deserve the best possible treatment and care. Thirty years ago a call for Health for All was made by the UN. Despite this, childhood cancer continues to be a neglected and marginalized disease. A child with cancer is no less (nor more) important than a child with malaria,
Carefully implemented childhood cancer programs in LMICs have documented improvements in survival rate of 30%, within less than a decade. Another effective strategy is that of “twinning programs”. Sustained partnership with centers of excellence in developed countries or other middle income countries with advanced capacities , and modest investment of funding, mentoring, training, and support
Because no child nor family should face cancer alone. No family should ever have to choose between putting food in the table, sending a child to school or seeking treatment for a child with cancer. Unfortunately, because of the catastrophic costs of childhood cancer treatment and medicines, these are the difficult choices families of children
Every child lost is an irreplaceable contributor to the future of their community and country. Healthy children and adolescents contribute to productive and sustainable communities and progressive nations. Every child lost is an irreplaceable piece of the future. We lose the gifts of their unique personalities, talents and potential contributions to our families, communities and
Too many children and adolescents still die of cancer worldwide. Based on current limited statistics – one child dies of cancer every three minutes. Effective treatments for certain types of cancer do not yet exist in many LMICs and even in some developed countries. 1 While cancer in children is but a fraction of the global
Childhood cancer is considered a modern day “miracle” by health circles. More than 70% of childhood cancer is now curable with modern therapy. Overall, this is an impressive increase since the mid‐1970s, when the 5‐ year survival rate was approximately 60%. Still, survival rates vary depending on the type of cancer and factors such as
As is already the case in high‐income countries (HICs), in a growing number of middle income countries (MICs), cancer represents the leading cause of non‐ accidental death among children and adolescents. While childhood mortality due to infectious diseases has been significantly reduced worldwide, deaths due to childhood cancer are increasing. A large and growing proportion
The global estimate of 175,000–250,000 new childhood cancer cases annually represents a recognized substantial underestimate. This can be attributed to the lack of cancer registries in a large majority of LMICs (low middle income countries), prevalent under diagnosis, misdiagnosis and/or under‐registration of LMIC children with cancer. In these countries, children with cancer are dying undiagnosed,