The Pan American Health Organization (PAHO), St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, and Childhood Cancer International have started a new campaign to let parents, caregivers, and health professionals in Latin America and the Caribbean know about the first signs of the most common cancers in children and teens. This will help them catch the cancers early and get better care.
The “Support Kids with Cancer” campaign, which started on February 14, the day before International Childhood Cancer Day, aims to bring attention to the most common types of cancer in children, such as lymphoblastic leukemia, Hodgkin lymphoma, and retinoblastoma, among others. Some of the most common symptoms are tiredness, bruising, lumps, or swelling that can’t be explained, loss of appetite, headaches that don’t go away, nausea and vomiting, and pain in the bones.
PAHO’s Director of the Noncommunicable Diseases and Mental Health Department, Dr. Anselm Hennis, said that each year, about 29,000 children and teens in Latin America and the Caribbean are told they have cancer. “The overall survival rate for childhood cancer in the region is 55% at the moment, but this varies a lot from country to country.”
In low-income countries in the region, survival rates for children and teens can be as low as 20%, but in high-income countries, survival rates can be up to 80%, which is a big difference. This is mostly because of delays in diagnosis, lack of specialized care, limited access to essential cancer medicines, and deaths from infections that could have been prevented.
Dr. Hennis said, “Childhood cancer can’t be stopped, but most types can be cured if found early.” “It’s important to give parents and caregivers the information they need to raise the alarm as soon as possible.”
A song and an animated video are part of the campaign. They make it easy to remember the symptoms of common childhood cancers. It also tells you what to do if you have a symptom that worries you.
Dr. Daniel Bastardo, Manager of the St. Jude Together program at St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, said, “The campaign is a great way to give parents, caregivers, teachers, and primary care providers important and complete information about the signs of childhood cancer.”
Cancer in kids
Every year, one out of every 360 children and teens in Latin America and the Caribbean is diagnosed with cancer. However, only 46% of the countries in the region have a policy for early detection of cancer, including childhood cancers.
Up to 60% of all childhood cancers are the most common types: acute lymphoblastic leukemia, Burkitt lymphoma, Hodgkin lymphoma, Wilms tumor, retinoblastoma, and low-grade glioma.
Marcela Zubieta, head of Childhood Cancer International’s Latin American network, says, “Each of the six most common childhood cancers is different, has early signs and symptoms that can be found, and is very treatable with treatments that have been shown to work.” “This is why it’s so important for this campaign to get the word out to parents.”
International Childhood Cancer Day is a global campaign that happens every year on February 15. Its goal is to bring attention to childhood cancer and help kids and teens who have cancer, as well as those who have survived it and their families.
