Every
Child Afflicted with Cancer Should Get Curative Health Care: Dr V Shanta
23,658 children in India
are affected by cancer every year, out of which 6,209 suffer from Acute Lymphoblastic
Leukemia (ALL-a cancer of the blood and bone marrow). In Tamil Nadu, 1290 ALL
cases have been reported out of which 363 cases are Paediatric ALL, said
Padmashree awardee and Chairperson, Cancer Institute of India, Dr V Shanta, at a conference held by Tamil
Nadu Pondicherry Pediatric Oncology Group to discuss challenges and issues faced by children battling cancer on
Saturday.
"Every child to be
afflicted with cancer should get curative health care. The survival rate is
60-75 per cent today; 6 decades ago it was 0," she said.
Themed “CREATE THE FUTURE”
the Paediatric Haemato Oncology conference saw delegates from India and
Southeast Asia deliberate on the need for educating paedeatritions in enabling
them in early detection of pediatric cancer with advanced screening procedures,
help reduce its occurrence and possibly even bridge the gender gap in
treatment.
Girls respond to treatment
better than boys, biologically with all cancer therapies. However, in all
cancer centers the number of girl children being brought for treatment is far
lower than the number of boys out of the total 15,000 children diagnosed each
year, experts noted.
"The ratio of
afflicted cancer patients would be in the ratio of 1.4:1 (boys: girls); but the
hospital registries would indicate a ratio of 3:1," said Dr Shripad
Banavali, Head of Medical and Paediatric Hematology at Tata Memorial Centre
Mumbai.
“Paediatric constitutes
2.3 percent of all cancers. The incidence of cancer is lesser in India when
compared to other developing and developed nations. The predominance of boys in cancer cases is
universal and is increasingly being noticed in metropolitan cities vis a vis
rural areas. Whether it is due to inaccurate diagnosis or incomplete
registration it is hard to tell. Leukaemia
and other related disorders account for more than 50 percent of all
childhood cancer while Acute lymphoblastic leukaemia (ALL) accounts for 24
percent of these cases," Dr Shanta said.
Amidst landmark changes in
pediatric cancer treatment delivery such as conceptual changes in therapeutic
care involving multi-disciplinary team, protocol based therapy and adequate
supportive care; the disparity in access to quality healthcare between boys and
girls were some of the key issues discussed at the conference.
“Childhood cancers are
curable and the girl child should also be given a chance. We have noticed that abandonment rates are
high in girls possibly because of the high cost of treatment or even the
parents concern about the impact of the treatment on the child’s appearance or
even physiology which is feared to impact the child’s future prospects,
especially marriage. Communities, philanthropists, Organisations and the
government need to collectively come forward to educate and lower the social
stigma associated with cancer in the girl child.” said Dr Revathi Raj,
Paediatric Haematologist, Apollo Hospitals and the Organizing Secretary of the
Conference.
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