On the occasion of International Childhood Cancer Day, which is commemorated every February 15, the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) shared that the cure rate for childhood cancer in Latin American and Caribbean countries is 55%. but it falls to 20% in those lowest-income nations.
"In Latin America and the Caribbean, nearly 29,000 children and adolescents are diagnosed with cancer each year," said Dr. Anselm Hennis, from Barbados, and director of the Department of Noncommunicable Diseases and Mental Health of PAHO, in a statement. of the international organization.
The text added that "one in every 360 children and adolescents are diagnosed with cancer each year, but less than half of the countries in the region (46%) have a national policy for the early detection of cancer, including childhood cancer."
In low-income countries in the region, rates can reach 20%, while they reach 80% in the richest, stated the office for America of the World Health Organization (WHO).
"While the overall regional survival rate for childhood cancer is currently 55%, this varies significantly from country to country," says the WHO.
For its part, PAHO attributes this imbalance "mainly to delays in diagnosis, lack of specialized care, limited access and availability of essential cancer drugs, and avoidable mortality due to numerous infections," according to the AFP news agency .
The most common types of childhood cancers are acute lymphoblastic leukemia, Burkitt lymphoma, Hodgkin lymphoma, Wilms tumor, retinoblastoma and low-grade glioma, which account for up to 60% of all recognized childhood cancers.
Likewise, and to alert parents and health professionals of the first signs of the most common cancers in minors, PAHO launched the "In your hands" campaign together with the research center St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, located in the city of Memphis, United States and Childhood Cancer International (CCI) of Amsterdam, Netherlands.
Some of the most common symptoms are fatigue, unexplained bruising, lumps or swelling, loss of appetite, persistent headache, dizziness, vomiting and bone pain, explains the official report.
Childhood cancers present "early symptoms that are detectable, and are highly curable with proven therapies," said Chilean pediatrician Marcela Zubieta, head of the Latin American network of Childhood Cancer International, cited in the same statement.
