Let us collaborate more to eradicate cancer in children
A patient undergoes cancer screening at the Integrated Molecular Imaging Center located at the Kenyatta University Teaching Referral and Research Hospital on January 10, 2022.
What you need to know:
- The many health workers on the frontline in the war against childhood cancer deserve to be recognised and supported.
- They include the doctors managing cancer, nurses, psychologists, social workers and researchers.
The war against paediatric cancer is a complex and multifaceted one that crosses socioeconomic boundaries, necessitating collaborative effort. Cancer in children, while not as common as in adults, is still a scourge in the low- and middle-income countries (LMICs).
September is thus designated as the Childhood Cancer Awareness Month to enhance awareness. Of the 400,000 children diagnosed with this heart-breaking disease yearly, 80 per cent are in LMICs. Kenya has 3,200 new cases yearly, which could be underestimated due to underreporting and misdiagnoses.
Sadly, despite its seriousness, cancer in children has been under-prioritised in terms of resource allocation in the country. This is a call to action to raise awareness and improve access to quality health services.
There is a need to invest in diagnosis and treatment and remove the barriers to access to care — such as cultural beliefs and weak referral systems but, most importantly, financial hardship among families since our healthcare financing is largely through out-of-pocket expenditure. Besides, there are few childhood cancer specialists in Kenya.
The many health workers on the frontline in the war against childhood cancer deserve to be recognised and supported. They include the doctors managing cancer — such as pathologists, paediatric oncologists, surgeons and radiation oncologists — nurses, psychologists, social workers and researchers.
Emotional burden
But they can’t do it alone. They require more funding for diagnosis, treatment and research to improve their efforts. Governments, donors and philanthropic organisations must work together to gather the resources for research into more effective diagnostic and treatment methods.
Beyond the medical front, social allies are extremely important. The affected families require comprehensive support systems to cope with the emotional burden.
Thus, support groups and counselling services are critical in amplifying childhood cancer’s urgency, increasing public awareness and providing emotional support to affected families.
There is a need for increased funding, policy changes and research and development to improve treatment outcomes. Political allies are critical in shifting policy and legislation.
Data collection and research
The government’s ability to change the response to paediatric cancer is nearly limitless. Policymakers can allocate funds and prioritise, say, data collection and research.
The Gertrude’s Hospital Foundation is at the forefront of championing collaboration between stakeholders in the private and public healthcare sectors to help with early diagnosis through initiatives training frontline health workers and facilitating the diagnosis of children from needy backgrounds. More needs be done but paediatric cancer can be managed with the right focus and unity of purpose.
Childhood cancer knows no bounds; so should our response to it. Collaboration — in research, treatment, training, policy development or community support — is a powerful weapon against this formidable foe.
The synergy of these efforts will make a difference in the lives of young children fighting cancer and their families, paving the way for healing, recovery and hope.
Dr Karimi is a paediatric haematology oncologist at Gertrude’s Children’s Hospital. [email protected].
