WORLDWIDE CHILDHOOD CANCER ADVOCACY
Influencing policy and public opinion on the need to do more on childhood cancer.
Advocacy means giving childhood cancer the attention it deserves
Why it matters
The global health landscape is changing, and noncommunicable diseases (like cancer) are finally starting to get the attention they need. But government awareness and investment is still dangerously low. This means the needs of children with cancer are still not being met.
The World Health Organisation (WHO) Global Initiative for Childhood Cancer goes some way to remedy this. But survival rates will not improve if we do not push for the support children and their families deserve.
Our primary target is influencing local health ministries and hospital administrations to focus more resources on childhood cancer. We believe that this is the most sustainable way to make change.
Childhood cancer advocacy:
The work we do
We are an active partner to the WHO Global Initiative for Childhood Cancer, represented on the global steering group. Setting the goal that 60% of all children should survive cancer by 2030 is crucial to focusing attention on this neglected issue and is having an impact. We are very active in several WHO pilot countries demonstrating what can be achieved. Meeting this ambitious goal would save an extra million lives by 2030.
We do this by:
- Building public and political awareness around the disparity in childhood cancer care.
- Creating links to share skills and expertise in and across borders.
- Supporting evidence-based research and practice development.