daniel chigunwe
Rumbidzayi Zinyuke
Senior Health Reporter
Zimbabwe has launched the National Childhood Cancer treatment guidelines that will help improve early detection, treatment, and overall care.
The guidelines, which were launched during the commemorations of the International Childhood Cancer Day in Harare last week, are in fulfilment of the World Health Organisation Global Initiative for Childhood Cancer (WHO-GICC) which seeks to increase childhood cancer survival rates in Africa to 60 percent by 2030.
They are one of the 10 Cure-All technical packages supported by WHO-GICC for countries to define national standards and guidelines for six index cancers, including Acute leukemia, Burkitt lymphoma, Hodgkin lymphoma, low-grade glioma, Wilms tumor, and retinoblastoma. Permanent Secretary of Health and Child Care who was represented by acting deputy director in the Non-Communicable Diseases department, Mr Lee Nkala said Government was committed to ensuring that the targets of the WHO-GICC were met.
“We have seen the disparity and we’ve also noted what is expected of us to achieve the 60 percent survival rates as a nation. Like any other country, we are facing challenges but we also try to overcome those challenges. We pride ourselves for developing the National Childhood Oncology Guidelines. We are inspired to act now, and I see this commitment reflected in the unity of all stakeholders and partners. This collaboration between the Government, the Ministry and families highlights the crucial role of all stakeholders in the prevention, care, management and education surrounding childhood cancers,” he said.
He commended the technical and financial support given to the country towards the drafting of the guidelines.
He expressed the Government’s commitment to allocating resources to cushion out-of-pocket expenses for citizens, particularly in vulnerable communities.
According to the Zimbabwe National Cancer Registry, 263 paediatric cancers between the ages of 0 and 14 were registered in 2019.
These cancers constituted 13,7 percent of all the cancers recorded in that year. The five most common cancers for children were leukemia, which constituted about 18 percent, renal tumors (13 percent), retinoblastoma (6 percent), lymphomas (13 percent) and central nervous system tumors, which accounted for 10 percent of cases.
Paediatric oncologist and GICC Zimbabwe focal person, Dr Loice Hlatshwayo said the guidelines aimed to define Zimbabwe’s national standards and guidelines for diagnosing and treating the cancers.
Online Reporter