Cancer care for children in Mexico

Challenge

Every year, 800 new cases of childhood cancer are expected in southeast Mexico, making it the #1 illness-related cause of death for children aged 5 - 14. Affected children and their families have extremely limited access to hospitals and restricted knowledge of the symptoms and curability of childhood cancer. At available hospitals, there is a shortage of trained professionals, housing for families, and equipment and technology for treatment.

Solution

Local doctors are trained through bi-annual on-site workshops and telemedicine support. Parent support groups, psychosocial support for patients and families, data collection, and early detection and public education campaigns are also key project activities. Additionally, we will continue to expand the childhood cancer database, by linking current patient charts to the database platform, and create educational material for parents to improve treatment compliance.

Long-Term Impact

We aim to expand, geographically and institutionally, to at least two more hospitals. We also plan on creating a center of excellence to advance diagnostic and specialized testing for patients. These projects will help improve survival rates by 5% and reduce treatment abandonment by 10% in five years. In 2018 we be expanding our programs to hospitals and clinics in Veracruz. This addition will increase then number of children diagnosed earlier and help to create a sustainable program.

Additional Documentation

This project has provided additional documentation in a PDF file (projdoc.pdf).

Resources