By Fatmata Kamara
Nurse Educator for the Welbodi Partnership Organisation at the Ola During Children’s Hospital, John Baffour Asare, has said childhood cancer is a leading cause for the death of children and adolescents in Sierra Leone.
The Nurse Educator made this declaration while responding to an ongoing campaign meant to create awareness on the deadly state of cancer.
Asare said the likelihood of surviving a diagnosis of childhood cancer depends on the country in which the child lives.
He added that the most common types of cancer diagnosed in children ages 0-14 include leukemias, brain and other central nervous system(CNS) tumors, and lymphomas.
“When identified early, cancer is more likely to respond to effective treatment and result in a greater probability of survival, less expensive and less intensive treatment,” he pointed out.
Each year, an estimated 400, 000 children from zero to 19 years old develop cancer.
“More than 80% of children with cancer are cured. In-low and middle-income countries, less than 30% are cured. Only 29% of low-income countries report that cancer medicines are generally available to their populations compared to 96% of high-income countries,” he revealed.
Childhood cancer, he continued, cannot generally be prevented or identified through screening. “Most likely cancers can be cured with generic medicines and other forms of treatment, including surgery and radiotherapy. The treatment of childhood cancer can be cost-effective in all income settings,” he said.
Asare concluded by saying that the National Childhood Cancer Awareness Month is an annual health campaign that is organized by major childhood cancer organizations to increase awareness of pediatric cancer and to raise funds for research into its cause, prevention, diagnosis, treatment and cure.
