Movements urge for much fairer childhood cancer treatment

Geneva, Feb 15 (Prensa Latina) As the International Childhood Cancer Day is celebrated on Thursday, international movements made up mostly of sick children’s parents stress the need for a fairer access to treatment and care for their children suffering from this disease.

February 15, 2024
17:09

According to World Health Organization (WHO) estimates, some 400,000 children and adolescents aged 0-19 suffer from cancer each year.

The most common types are leukemias, brain cancers, lymphomas and solid tumors such as neuroblastoma and Wilms’ tumors.

According to specialists, most childhood cancers can be cured with generic drugs or other types of treatment, such as surgery and radiotherapy.

However, there are disparities: in high-income countries, where there is generally access to comprehensive care services, over 80% of children affected by cancer are cured, but in low- and middle-income countries this figure drops to 30%.

Only 29 % of low-income countries report that cancer drugs are generally available to their populations, compared to 96% in high-income countries.

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