Childhood cancers are more common in low-income countries than in high-income countries. Over 80% of the world’s children live in countries with a medium to low standard of living. In Eritrea, more than 500 cases of childhood cancer are expected per year. Currently, not a single child can be treated in Eritrea. The children all die. There is no palliative care available to help these children and adolescents die pain-free and with dignity.
In a few countries in sub-Saharan Africa, initial programs for the treatment of individual oncological diseases have been implemented. These protocols are already being used very successfully in countries such as Malawi, Kenya, Ghana, and Sudan. In cooperation with the Pediatric Oncology in Developing Countries (PODC) working group and the International Society of Pediatric Oncology (Société Internationale d’Oncologie Pédiatrique, SIOP), ARCHEMED will implement the first programs to combat cancer in Eritrea.
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The pediatric cancer program in Eritrea has three goals for the coming years:
- Renovation and commissioning of a ward in the pediatric clinic originally built by Italian colonialists. Work on this began in early 2016, and the inauguration will take place in spring 2025.
- Education and further training of doctors and nursing staff to enable independent work on-site in the long term. The treatment of oncological patients allows for no delay. There are defined therapy protocols according to which cancers can be treated. The establishment and independent implementation of the first protocols will be possible after some time.
- Treatment will begin with two types of childhood and adolescent cancer. These were selected because they are highly curable diseases. The cancers are Wilms tumor and Hodgkin lymphoma; it is expected that up to 20 affected children per year can initially be treated. Treatment protocols already exist through SIOP and PODC. These must be carefully adapted for Eritrea together with the colleagues working there.
Project Management
Prof. Dr. Uta Dirksen, Pediatric Oncologist, Essen
