As we work toward closing the gap in cancer care access, the World Health Organization (WHO) has announced that six countries will receive free cancer medicines for children.
“A child’s chances of surviving cancer are largely determined by where they are born, making this one of the starkest disparities in global healthcare,” says James R. Downing, president and CEO of St. Jude.
Under the Global Platform for Access to Childhood Cancer Medicines, St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital and WHO have partnered in a commitment to provide medical supplies to at least 5,000 young cancer patients living in developing nations. Six nations will be on the receiving end: Mongolia, Uzbekistan, Zambia, Ecuador, Jordan, and Nepal. Statistically speaking, less than 30 per cent of young cancer patients survive in low- and middle-income countries, compared to an 80 per cent survival rate in high-income nations. Lack of access to chemotherapy drugs due to high cost or unavailability, as well as late detection due to a lack of awareness and poor diagnostic tools and facilities, all contribute to unequal cancer treatments. WHO says the program will expand to reach 50 countries and about 120,000 children over the next five to seven years.
