World Cancer Day

Posted on: 2022-02-04 10:26:24
World Cancer Day is celebrated on 4th February, to unite people around the world to take action against cancer. Cancer is a global challenge. Millions of people are diagnosed with Cancer every year globally. This year’s World Cancer Day will be observed with the theme “Close the Care Gap.”

World Cancer Day is also important to pay our tribute to the healthcare workers who are constantly working towards both preventing and curing this disease. So, this day can be used to appreciate their contribution.

Pediatric Cancer, also known as Childhood Cancer, is "a term used to describe cancers that occur between birth and 14 years of age." Pediatric cancers have a different nature than adult cancers. Cancers in children are sometimes hard to recognize because common illnesses or everyday bumps and bruises can mask the early warning indications.

Cancer begins with a genetic change in single cells that then develops into a mass (or tumour) that invades other parts of the body and causes harm and death if left untreated. Unlike cancer in adults, most childhood cancers do not have a known cause. Many studies have aimed to determine the causes of childhood cancer, but very few cancers in children are caused by environmental or lifestyle factors. Most of them are usually the result of DNA changes in cells that take place very early in life.

Most common Cancers among Children:


Treatments

Low and middle-income countries (LMICs), including India, account for nearly 90 percent of the pediatric population and more than 80 percent of the childhood cancer burden.
Only about 15-45 percent of children diagnosed with cancer in low- and middle-income countries were treated and survived, compared to more than 80 percent in high-income countries, reported the World Health Organization (WHO) on February 12, 2021.
According to the WHO, lack of diagnosis, misdiagnosis or delayed diagnosis, obstacles to accessing care, abandonment of treatment, death from toxicity and higher rates of relapse are some of the causes for the burden of deaths due to cancer among children in the low-middle income countries. Improving access to childhood cancer care, including essential medicines and technologies, is highly cost-effective. It is feasible and can improve survival in all settings.