Korede Akindele is a childhood cancer advocate and programs head at the Dorcas Cancer Foundation in Nigeria. He is also a member of the SIOP YI social media & blog committee this year.
Cancer is a bully.
Much worse than the playground bully, cancer does not try to steal children’s lunch money. Cancer tries to steal their futures.
Nigeria is one low and middle-income country struggling to confront challenges associated with the rising prevalence of Childhood Cancer cases.
The World Health Organization (WHO) has estimated that 30,000 children are diagnosed with the disease yearly, with 80 percent of them living in low- and middle-income countries. In Nigeria today, Childhood Cancer is the 4th leading cause of death in children under 15 years. A majority of childhood cancer cases in Nigeria are seen outside hospitals.
As we know Childhood cancers have an excellent chance of cure if detected early, accurately diagnosed, and promptly and properly treated. Every month at least 6-10 new cases of childhood cancer are seen in hospitals, this accounts for about 120 new cases in a year and the 0–4-year age group had the greatest contribution.
Delay in seeking medical attention due to lack of knowledge about cancer, superstitious beliefs about the cause of a mysterious illness, or as is the case in many situations has also contributed to the low outcome of survival rate. The consequences of delayed diagnosis are devastating. For example, Wilm's tumor, a pediatric malignancy arising from the kidney has 80 to 99% favorable outcome in stage I; compared to 50% or less in stage IV.
Thanks to few NGO’S such as The Dorcas Cancer Foundation, who are dedicated to the cause of Childhood Cancer and has been at the forefront of awareness and advocacy about childhood cancers, to ensure that children are brought in for treatment early, ultimately reducing both morbidities, and mortality related to cancer.
Although there is much work to be done, financial constraints and challenges have also been a major constraint. Cancer treatment is undeniably expensive. More so in a resource-poor setting like Nigeria where the combination of the high cost of treatment and insufficient health insurance coverage policies is prominent. In contrast to the western world where there are health insurance programs to bear part or all of the cost of care, the average Nigerian child is not so fortunate. The parents of these patients often have to fund the entire cost of treatment out of pocket. Expectedly, this leads to inadequate testing, missed doses, declined interventions, and sadly, abandonment of treatment.
The Dorcas Cancer Foundation has taken bold steps to bridge this financial gap between patient and treatment, by raising funds to pay for care, involving kind-hearted individuals, community, corporate organizations, and government in making sure that no child has to suffer cancer without access to care, and so far the organization has funded the full treatment and Rehabilitation of over 40 children since inception in 2015.
Also, a cancer diagnosis can be extremely isolating; exacting a toll beyond just the physical and financial, but also impacting the psycho-social aspects of the child's life. When a child is diagnosed with cancer, the distress is shared by the parents, siblings, and several others who surround and love them. The journey through testing, diagnosis, treatment and even post-treatment care can be lonely, confusing, and traumatic for patients and family alike.
The Dorcas Cancer Foundation supports by bringing together patients and families from those newly diagnosed to those going through active treatment, and survivors to encourage, advise, and guide each through the journey called cancer by having a Support Group.
Traditional, societal and cultural perceptions of disease and illness plague any negative diagnosis, but a cancer diagnosis most of all. Stigmatization cuts deep, not only itching phsycho-social damage on the child, siblings, and other family members; but is also a major cause of delayed diagnosis as the family tries to hide the truth by not openly seeking prompt attention.
The Dorcas Cancer Foundation works hard every day to educate, enlighten and re-orientate the public to banish these negative socio-cultural attitudes and beliefs towards cancer. In 2017, the foundation published a Childhood Cancer Handbook (the first of its kind in Nigeria) and distributed over 1000 copies to patients, families, and even healthcare professionals to aid their knowledge.
Countless advocacy programs in rural and urban Nigeria; that reached and impacted over 3 million people, through Community Awareness and Engagement, Media Awareness (TV & Radio) and Social Media, etc. creating enlightenment and understanding about the importance of early detection and proper treatment of childhood cancers.
In the developed world, there are special centers set aside to care for young cancer patients, with specialist doctors trained to care exclusively for pediatric malignancies, unlike in developing countries like Nigeria, where such centers are sparse and ill-equipped.
The Dorcas Cancer Foundation has created an awareness of this gap, and one day to sees the development of dedicated childhood cancer treatment centers and pediatric clinical and radiation oncology training programs for doctors, nurses, pharmacists, psycho-oncologists, rehabilitation experts, and all professionals involved in cancer care.
The commitment to help reduce the burden in children remains undaunted, with help of NGO’s clinical practitioner , government bodies, we strongly believe that even in resource-deficient settings such as Nigeria, unnecessary discomfort and mortality from childhood cancer can be significantly reduced with improved societal awareness leading to early detection, accurate diagnosis of cancer; and prompt and proper intervention and treatment.
We will be here a little while longer, fighting against the tide if that is what we have to do. Helping only one child at a time if that is all we can do. We will be here. Because the child must live.
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