World Child Cancer

World Child Cancer is dedicated to improving cancer diagnosis and treatment for some of the world’s poorest children. 80% of global childhood cancer occurs in developing countries and two-thirds of this goes undiagnosed. Whilst 75% of children survive cancer in developed countries, for the few who are diagnosed in low-income areas, survival rates can be as low as 10%.

Traditionally global health policies have focused on malaria and infectious diseases; cancer in children has been a neglected issue for too long. Despite the fact that simple procedures can raise survival rates to above 50%, lack of local knowledge leaves many areas severely underdeveloped.

Now WCC is working to reduce this gap by developing international twinning partnerships that transfer the expertise of specialists in resource-rich countries to health centres in areas where survival-rates are low. Based on the model developed by St Jude Children’s Research hospital, WCC has developed operations in Malawi, Colombia, Mexico and the Philippines with four new projects in development in Mozambique, Ghana, Namibia and Nepal.

Whilst WCC provides seed-funding of £30-40,000 p.a. for the first 5 years of each partnership, sustainability is key to the success of our projects. In each partnership, the project leader is trained to identify long-term funding sources in order to create this self sustainability. The project in Ghana is a fantastic example. With a population of over 23 million, Ghana has only two hospitals that treat child cancers, and survival rates are lower than 10%. Twinned with the Royal Sick Children’s Hospital in Edinburgh, WCC is working with the Ghanaian government to secure the funding needed to create long-term sustainability of treatment in their country in order to significantly raise their survival rate.

Relatively small levels of funding can make a significant impact. For just £40,000, WCC can fund the total cost of a twinning partnership in Malawi, providing training and treatment for a whole year. It is sobering to think that so many young lives can be saved for so little when the cost of treatment for one child in the USA averages £300,000.

In the Philippines, where an estimated population of 88million is spread over an archipelago of over 7000 islands, access to treatment has been the Partnership’s biggest battle. Almost 80% of patients here live outside of Davao City, where the health centre is based, leaving the completion-rate of treatment as low as 30%. Through the establishment of satellite treatment-centres and awareness campaigns, this partnership is working to create a centre of excellence in child cancer to maximise the sustainable impact.

Build believes that ‘no one can go through life without at some point being touched by an international, cross-cultural partnership’. World Child Cancer aims to create health care institutions in partnership globally, sharing medical knowledge and practice with the areas that need it most.

To find out more about World Child Cancer, Please visit their website at: http://www.worldchildcancer.org/