Accra, Feb 16, GNA – Mrs Tina Mensah, the Deputy Minister of Health, has called for institutional and individual support to aid children and adolescents diagnosed with various forms of cancer in the country to survive.
She said there was need for all to come together to make childhood cancer a national children’s health priority, to ensure that every child with cancer receives early and proper diagnosis, have access to essential medicines, gets the required treatment, care, and sustainable livelihood opportunities.
That, she noted, was critical as a child with cancer was no less important than a child with malaria, tuberculosis, HIV, malnutrition, among any other life-threatening illness.
The Deputy Minister of Health made the call at the national launch of International Childhood Cancer Day, in collaboration with World Child Cancer on the theme “Better Survival is Achievable #Throughyourhands”.
The 2022 theme seeks to honour health workers who are working tirelessly to ensure children with cancer survive.
“All sick children deserve our full support to prolong and improve the quality of their lives,” she said, adding that 80 percent of cases can be cured provided they are detected early.
According to a joint statement released by the International Childhood Cancer Day (ICCA), Childhood Cancer International (CCI), and the International Society of Pediatric Oncology (SIOP), more than 400,000 children and adolescents below 20years are diagnosed with cancer globally each year, with 80 per cent survival and to less than 20 per cent in low- and middle-income countries.
Experts say lack of information on early signs and symptoms of childhood cancer, late diagnosis, misdiagnosis, weak referral system, high cost of medicines and treatment, inadequate oncologists, religious beliefs among others have led to poor management of such cases.
Mrs Mensah said the Ministry was doing everything possible to ensure that basic quality and affordable health services were accessible to all persons in Ghana through the hands of competent and highly motivated workforce in line with the World Health Organization’s Global Childhood Cancer Initiative.
The Global Childhood Cancer Initiative seeks to eliminate all pain and suffering of children fighting cancer and achieve at least 60 per cent survival for all children diagnosed with cancer around the world by 2030.
Mrs Mensah commended the efforts of health staff and pledged the government’s commitment to ensuring that more oncologists, oncology nurses and other health personnel needed to provide care for people diagnosed with cancer were trained accordingly.
Mr Emmanuel Ayire Adongo, the World Child Cancer Regional Coordinator for Sub-Saharan Africa, called on the public to contribute their widow’s mite to provide the needed support to families who have children with cancer.
He appealed for good diagnostic facilities, access to quality and affordable medicines to enable the country to increase the childhood cancer survival rate.
Lifeline for Childhood Cancer Ghana, a non-governmental organisation unveiled an information signpost on childhood cancer at the Department of Child Health, Korle-Bu Teaching Hospital to commemorate the Day.
Ms Akua Sarpong, the Executive Secretary Lifeline for Childhood Cancer Ghana, in an interview told the Ghana News Agency (GNA), that the signpost which has the symbol of the tree of life is aimed at intensifying campaign to do away with the myth surrounding childhood cancer.
GNA