- Childhood Cancer Awareness Month draws to a close
Lions District 306B2 and Indira Cancer Trust together with the Health Ministry, professional colleges, and civil society organisations held Sri Lanka’s first childhood cancer awareness walk, Walk for Gold, last week in commemoration of Childhood Cancer Awareness Month, which is marked in the month of September.
Walk for Gold was held on 25 September, commencing at 8 a.m. near British School, Elvitigala Mawatha, Colombo 8, and ending at Shalika Grounds, where key partners addressed the gathering, and 100 helium yellow balloons were released.
Participants were seen wearing yellow to represent the gold ribbon that signifies childhood cancers, and they also carried placards with key messages on childhood cancer. Yellow balloons and flags added to the theme of “save lives and spread gold”.
Elle, the mascot for Suwa Arana, Sri Lanka’s first paediatric palliative care centre for children with cancer, was also seen at the walk. Suwa Arana is due to open in September 2023, and will house be able to 32 children with cancer.
Key partners of the event included the National Cancer Control Programme, College of Oncologists, and College of Paediatricians, as well two youth-led organisations, The Scouts Movement and Sri Lanka Girl Guides.
Awareness
Cancer is a leading cause of death for children, with 300,000 new cases diagnosed each year globally. In Sri Lanka, 750 new cases are diagnosed each year. However, the India Cancer Trust points out that emphasis on childhood cancer in Sri Lanka has grown in the last few years with the launch of the National Strategic Plan on Childhood and Adolescent Cancer Care in Sri Lanka 2021-2025.
This is the first five-year plan for the Global Initiative for Childhood Cancer (GICC) of the World Health Organisation (WHO) towards achieving at least 60% survival for childhood cancers in 2030, and reducing the suffering of the affected child and the whole family.
Indira Cancer Trust went on to state that childhood cancers are highly curable, with survival rates exceeding 80% in developed countries. However, in the developing world, the survival rate on average is 20%.
Childhood cancer in Sri lanka
- Between 2015 and 2019, on average, about 828 cases of childhood cancer were detected per year in Sri Lanka
- Among all childhood cancer cases reported in 2019, 51.5% were male, while 48.5% were female
- The most common cancers among children and adolescents (up to 19 years old) are leukaemias, lymphomas, and tumours arising in the central nervous system, kidneys, and bones
- In 2019, 31,848 new cancer cases were detected, of which 780 cases were within the 0-19 age group, making it 2.4% of all cancers
(Source: National Strategic Plan on Childhood and Adolescent Cancer Care in Sri Lanka 2021-2025)
