Cancer Survival Rate in Children as low as 25 to 30pc in Pakistan
by Hamna Bano
SHARES
Out of almost 10,000 children diagnosed with cancer in Pakistan yearly, only an unfortunate percentage of 25 survive, said experts on Tuesday while speaking at an awareness session organized by the department of pediatric oncology at Indus Hospital.
The reports say that around 40 percent of children brought to the health facilities for treatment have already cancer spread in the other organs.
Experts revealed that the major cause behind the high mortality rate is the lack of childhood cancer awareness, lack of treatment facilities, and the unavailability of trained pediatric oncologists.
While speaking at the session, medical health practitioners said that efforts are being made to reach at least a 60 percent survival rate in all childhood cancer cases by the end of 2030.
A walk was held at the hospital premises for awareness of the cause. There were senior doctors, nurses, paramedical staff, and parents of the suffering children present.
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Chief Executive Officer of Indus Hospital Abdul Bari Khan said that “every year, around 8,000 to 10,000 children are diagnosed with different types of cancer, over 70 percent die due to a variety of reasons”.
Despite high mortality, childhood cancer was treatable if it was diagnosed earlier and patients were brought to health facilities without any delay, he added.
Professor Khan said that Indus Hispital as one of the best cancer tretment facilities with 85 beds. “We are going to help establish childhood cancer treatment facilities at other hospitals in Balochistan, other cities of Sindh, and remote parts of the country to save as much lives of children with cancer as possible.” said Khan.
Senior Pediatric Oncologist Dr. Rafie Raza said that the cases reported were 100 per million in Pakistan. Out of which 8,000 to 10,000 children got diagnosed annually. Out of these 2000 to 2500 managed to survive in Pakistan.
