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Children's Cancer is Curable!

2012 02 13 Views: 269


 

 

Global childhood cancer organizations launch early detection campaign to save thousands of children’s lives Geneva | 15 February 2012 – Today is the International Childhood Cancer Day.

 

The International Society of Paediatric Oncology (SIOP) and the International Confederation of Childhood Cancer Parent Organizations (ICCCPO) are launching a targeted grassroots health advocacy campaign to better educate the public in recognizing the early warning signs for childhood cancer.

 

Each year 175,000 children worldwide are diagnosed with cancer, of which an estimated 90,000 will die from the disease. The exact number of new cases is not known because in many countries not all children with cancer are registered and many are not ever even diagnosed correctly. These figures are staggering given the fact that 70% of all childhood cancers are curable when diagnosed and treated early. Cancer is the second leading cause of death among children in developed countries. The most common type of cancer in Europe, Americas, East Asia and among the Caucasian population is Acute Lymphoblastic Leukaemia, whereas Burkitt’s lymphoma, associated with malaria and infection from the Epstein Barr virus, accounts for half of all childhood lymphomas in African countries. “The symptoms of cancer can often be interpreted as common childhood ailments” warns Dr Gabriele Calaminus, the president of SIOP.

 

The following symptoms, if persistent, could be signs for childhood cancer:
· White spot in the eye, new squint, blindness, bulging eyeball.
· Lump in abdomen/pelvis, head and neck, in limbs, testes, glands.
· Unexplained prolonged fever over 2 weeks.
· Loss of weight, pallor, fatigue, easy bruising or bleeding
· Aching bones, joints, back, and easy fractures.
· Neurological signs: change or deterioration in walk, balance, or speech, regression of Milestones
· Headache for more than two weeks with or without vomiting, enlarging head

 

“It is vital for parents to take their child to a physician or a qualified healthcare provider for further consultation if any of these symptoms persist” implores Calaminus. By dinner time tonight, someone’s son, daughter, sister or brother -- an estimated 440 children -- will have been diagnosed with this life-threatening disease while some 250 children from around the world would have succumbed to it. “Cancer in children is but a fraction of the global cancer burden but for children and their families, it is a matter of hope, courage and determination… a difference between life and death” explains Kenneth Dollman, ICCCPO president and a parent of a child who was diagnosed with, and has survived Leukemia.