Improve cancer care for 250 children in Malawi

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.

Links:

• World Child Cancer