Every year on February 15th, International Childhood Cancer Day (ICCD) seeks to spread awareness for childhood cancer. The day also encourages support for the families of children with cancer.
According to the World Health Organization (WHO), 300,000 children between the ages of zero and nineteen are diagnosed with cancer each year. Every three minutes, a child dies of cancer. Some of the most common types of childhood cancers include:
Leukemia
Brain cancer
Lymphoma
Solid tumors, such as neuroblastoma
Healthcare professionals believe that early detection and proper medical care helps to prevent cancer deaths. In high-income countries, more than eighty percent of children with cancer are cured. In low and middle-income countries, the opposite is true. Only about twenty percent of children with cancer in these countries find a cure.
Finding a Cure
More needs to be done to help children in these low and middle-income countries survive cancer. It is a widely-held belief that every child with cancer deserves the best possible care, regardless of their culture, race, or social status.
To help more children survive childhood cancer, WHO has created a Global Initiative on Childhood Cancer. The goal of the initiative is to reach a sixty percent survival rate for children with cancer in a decade. Doing this would save one million lives. To achieve this goal, every country needs to provide quality services for children with cancer. There also needs to be an increased prioritization of childhood cancer at the national and global levels. Through advocacy, leveraged financing, and governance, WHO hopes to cure all children with cancer.
WHO believes a C.U.R.E. can be reached through:
Center of Excellence and Care Networks
Universal Health Coverage
Regimens of Management
Evaluation and Monitoring
The good news is this initiative can become a reality. Despite the prevalence of childhood cancers, they are highly curable.
Many health organizations, hospitals, colleges and universities, and healthcare professionals hold events to educate the public on childhood cancer. To participate:
Wear a gold ribbon to show your support of people with childhood cancer.
Read inspirational stories about survivors of childhood cancer.
Pray for a cure for all childhood cancers.
If you know a child with cancer, encourage them, and show your support for the family.
To help spread awareness for this day, use #InternationalChildhoodCancerDay or #ICCD on social media.
INTERNATIONAL CHILDHOOD CANCER DAY HISTORY
Childhood Cancer International consists of a network of parent organizations in ninety countries.
Source:Â www.nationaldaycalendar.com