Childhood cancer strikes unexpectedly, sparing no age group, socioeconomic status, ethnic group or geographic region.
Children as young as a few months, barely able to talk and walk, can already have cancer but with early diagnosis, prompt and adequate treatment, children can and will survive cancer.
Worldwide, over 40,000 children and adolescents are currently being treated for childhood cancers. In developed countries, childhood cancer survival rate is as high as 95% while in the Philippines, it is only 10 to 30 percent. Of the 10 who are diagnosed, two or three are most likely to survive because most of them would be unable to afford the high costs of medication and treatment.
Community support is also nil and oftentimes, a parent will be forced to quit their job and stay home and care for their child.
Despite some breakthroughs in cancer management and improvements in survival rates, too many children continue to die.
Each day, cancer research goes under funded and the challenge of discovering treatment becomes more difficult while the lives of children are unfairly jeopardized.
One child who suffers from cancer is one too many.
An all-out war on cancer in children is possible only by providing additional resources, improved management and more centralized and accessible information.
There is a need for a multi-center national infrastructure for cancer research, where it would be possible to establish a population-based national childhood cancer registry. This will enable researchers to accurately study the incidence of childhood cancers and long-term effects of treatments, and provide funding for informational and educational services to families coping with a diagnosis of childhood cancer.
September is Childhood Cancer Awareness Month. It is an opportunity for us to honor the courage of children and youth with cancer and their families. It is also a call to action for everyone to get involved. Great things are made possible for children.
