Physical Health Malawi Project #8087

Improve cancer care for 250 children in Malawi

by World Child Cancer UK

Project Report | Feb 26, 2014
Malawian Child Cancer Project Report

By Liz Burns | Operations Manager

Toys for patients from a corporate supporter

Hello supporters!

Our project in Malawi reached the end of its first 5 year phase of funding in December 2013. We are now concentrating on Phase 2 of the Malawi project at the Queen Elizabeth Central Hospital in Blantyre.

Some highlights from the first 5 years of operation are:

An increase in the number of patients newly diagnosed each year, from 200 in 2009 to nearly 300 in 2013
Improvements in long-term survival rates - now at 60% for some malignancies such as Burkitt lymphoma
A decrease in the number of patients refusing or abandoning treatment due to increased financial support, an emphasis on social support on the ward and active follow-up of patients
Improvements in the provision of palliative care for children with incurable cancers
Increase in the speed and accuracy of diagnosis thanks to a microscope camera linked online with the twinning team in Newcastle
Provision of the first government paid nurse on the ward
Collaboration with several other units in Africa to initiate a regional Wilms' tumour treatment protocol and network
Sustaining a strong and growing relationship with the twinning partners in both Newcastle and Amsterdam
Capacity building through regular staff training and mentoring on the unit
Succession planning of the unit leadership through the current specialist training of a Malawian Paediatric Oncologist in South Africa.

The progress made over the last 5 years is staggering, and with the new phase of project planned we aim to implement the following acitvities:

Development of shared care and collaboration with other units in Malawi
Provide a day care unit for children to receive out-patient chemotherapy safely
Build a home-from-home facility for patient's families to stay in during treatment
Develop a multi-disciplinary neuro-oncology service
Increase the nursing capacity to allow for the service developments
Continued patient support for drugs, transport, food
Ongoing training and mentoring of local staff
Increase awareness campaigns to continue reaching more children with cancer across the country
Use of more intensive / complex protocols to increase the survival rate for more malignancies

Without the support of our funders and volunteers the continuation of this project in its new phase of funding would not be possible.

Thank you for your dedication to helping these children and please continue your support so that we can reach more children with cancer in Malawi.

Microscope camera for faster diagnostics

Patients in the play area of the ward at QECH

Links:

World Child Cancer

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Dec 6, 2013
Improve cancer care for 250 children in Malawi

By Rebecca Ross | World Child Cancer

Hello Supporters!

We are really pleased to say that our project in Malawi continues to make lots of progress and more and more children are receiving treatment for cancer.

Our CEO recently visited the Queen Elizabeth Central Hospital in Blantyre to see for herself exactly where money gets spent. She was amazed at the positivity of all the staff and patients and thrilled to see World Child Cancer's funds making such a difference to the lives of children with cancer. She reported that not only are chemotherapy drugs and equipment in short supply but even basics such as lightbulbs and paper are very hard to come by.

On her visit she was accompanied by a journalist from the Financial Times newspaper who was reporting on the project as part of the Financial Times Seasonal Appeal of which World Child Cancer is the beneficiary. The journalist was also amazed to see how the project works and truly impressed to see that such a little amount of money goes a long way. In particular he found the story of Mr Banda, the hospital outreach worker very inspiring. Mr Banda works for the hospital and travels to patients in remote areas for follow-up appointments. Quite often, these patients would not be able to attend follow-up appointments because of the high cost of travel to the hospital. In some cases this can mean that signs of the cancer returning are not detected and so further treatment cannot be offered. World Child Cancer, together with Mr Banda and your support means that the hospital travels to the patients to ensure that as many children as possible remain free of cancer after treatment.

The full article from the Financial Times along with a video can be seen here:

http://www.ft.com/cms/s/2/3a81760c-55e1-11e3-b6e7-00144feabdc0.html#axzz2mgo20BXh

http://video.ft.com/2899692092001/Fighting-cancer-in-rural-Africa/editorschoice

THANK YOU once again to all of our amazing supporters for allowing us to continue helping these children in Malawi!

Links:

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Sep 16, 2013
Malawian child cancer project

By Liz Burns | Operations Manager

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