Approximately 2,000 children are expected to develop cancer each year in Myanmar. Due to a lack of awareness of childhood cancer, an inability to accurately diagnose cases and the prohibitive cost of transport, the number of newly diagnosed cases is far lower than expected for the country.
The families of children with cancer are in desperate need of support to be able to keep their children in treatment - without which, they will almost certainly not survive. However, they face severe barriers to accessing treatment. Public transport is very unreliable - and private transport is too expensive for most, which results in abandonment of treatment. A further issue is a lack specialist training of healthcare professionals and poor diagnostic facilities.
We have worked closely with Yangon Children's Hospital (YCH) - the country's main paediatric oncology unit - since 2013 to build their capacity to treat childhood cancer. We have a local Project Coordinator in place and have a current Memorandum of Understanding with the Ministry of Health. Our focus is to help children access and remain in treatment, as well as to improve mental health and wellbeing through continuing to support educational activities for children undergoing treatment at YCH.
With support from donors, children in Myanmar will benefit from improved access to treatment and educational activities, improving wellbeing, health, and chances of survival during very turbulent times.
