Tackling kids’ high cancer death rate

Published Oct 8, 2015

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Lisa Isaacs

A TOTAL of 94 percent of all children who die from cancer are in developing countries – a startling statistic that will be addressed at the 47th annual International Society of Paediatric Oncology conference, which opened yesterday.

It is the first time the event is being held in sub-Saharan Africa, with 1 400 leading health practitioners, survivors and parents from around the world in attendance at the Cape Town International Convention Centre until Sunday.

Society president Giorgio Perilongo said in his welcoming address there were 10 countries in sub-Saharan Africa which had high child mortality rates. In addition, half of all maternal deaths in the world occur in those countries.

“This is the area of the world where the cancer mortality is more than double than the one registered in Europe or North America,” Perilongo said.

However, he said developed and developing countries were both challenged by a similar set of problems, only seen through different lenses.

“Resource-poor countries are challenged to design systems that can provide access and quality, whereas resource-rich countries are challenged to design affordable systems that can sustain access and quality.

“While continuing to promote cutting-edge research, innovation and quality, we are called to address these challenges comprehensively,” he told delegates.

He said the opportunity to innovate and drive convergence to a common health-care platform was the challenge.

“Therefore, the global context must be seen as a resource for understanding and ideas, rather than as simple ‘developing countries in need’.”

Red Cross Children’s Hospital head of paediatric oncology Alan Davidson said the focus of this year’s meeting was to achieve a balance between discussions around cutting-edge molecular science and issues pertinent to children suffering from cancer who lived and were treated in low- and middle-income countries.

He said there would be a number of issues under discussion at the conference, including common and rare tumours, as well as current trends in diagnostics and therapeutics, such as epigenetics and immunotherapy.

“We have no doubt that networking on an international scale will result in a creative exchange of ideas and be personally rewarding.”

Topics under discussion during the conference would include stem cell transplants, acute myeloid leukaemia, advances in the use of technology to support patient-reported outcomes in children and young people, and even aggressive neuroblastoma.

Western Cape Health MEC Nomafrench Mbombo welcomed the conference, saying the Department of Health had marked childhood cancer awareness month last month.

“Many young lives have been lost due to this disease and platforms like these allow for innovative idea sharing, and new technologies to evolve, helping to fight this disease,” Mbombo said.

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