Save the lives of children with cancer in Zimbabwe

The situation with Coronavirus (COVID19) is deeply unsettling and our priority, as we respond to this pandemic, remains with the families we support-most of whom are classified as high risk.

The COVID 19 pandemic has impacted heavily on the children who needed to be receiving chemotherapy. A number of the children with cancer failed to make it on time for their chemotherapy due to travelling restrictions and road blocks and this obviously has impacted heavily on the outcome of the treatment in terms of survival.

Doctors and nurses have not been spared as some were found to be positive and a number of them had to go on self-Isolation, leaving very few staff to manage the patients. All children in stable conditions had to be discharged. Poor quality of care remains cause of concern as observed.

As Key Workers, our Clinical Support Teams are alleviating pressures on the emergency healthcare workers, by giving emergency practical’s, psychosocial and emotional health support 24-hours a day to vulnerable families with a seriously ill child. Unfortunately COVID19 has also affected our fundraising events, which has led to a majority of them being cancelled. We now face the very real concern that we will not be able to financially continue supporting the more than 900 families we currently help: families with children undergoing cancer treatment.

Our Clinical Support Teams - identified as ‘key workers’ in this COVID19 crisis – are part of the national response to rapidly increasing demand, providing critical care and support to children with cancer and their families in this new, frightening reality. We have seen most of our fundraising events cancelled and our revenue declining. We receive no government funding and rely almost entirely on the generosity of the public.

• Acting as a bridge between hospital and home by giving emotional support to parents who have nowhere to turn to.
• Sourcing and delivering vital medical items and chemotherapy drugs.
• Remaining a life-line to parents whose children have recently passed away, providing vital emotional support as they face the terrifying prospect that they do not know when or how they can hold a funeral for their child.
• Kidzcan is part of the WHO and ST Jude Global Initiative to increase the survival rate of the six most common childhood cancers to 60% by the year 2030.
• Our International Childhood cancer day was a great success with a webinar hosted by WHO reached 47 countries and attended by 500 participants, raising awareness on childhood cancer and the challenges we face in Africa through our hands

The work we are doing today is only possible because of your support. Please help us to continue supporting these families. They need us more than ever. Thank you GlobalGiving Friends

• USD 25 - will fund for our Clinical Support Team to deliver urgent, essential items and medicines to families in self-isolation and hospital.
• USD 100 - will ensure that we are able to continue our vital care throughout this crisis and beyond.

 Laureen one one of patients from Victoria Falls who has been travelling 1800km every six weeks for the last two years, will soon now be certified cancer free. We will share her story in our next report.

Thank you Golbal Giving for your support.

Links:

• ICCD 2021

• Activities in Pictures (DOCX)

Chemotherapy drug procurement for Zimbabwe patients

Due to the current drug shortages in the country worsened by the covid-19 pandemic Kidzcan had to seek special dispensation from the Ministry of Health and Child Care to import chemotherapy drugs for cancer children. This has resulted in the organisation being able to assist all children with cancer and assist sickle cell patients as well.

Kidzcan managed to find a pharmaceutical company in India through links with WHO to supply directly to the organisation, with approval from Medicines control Zimbabwe and the Ministry of Health.

But due to covid-19 pandemic globally our drugs were stuck at Chennai airport in India due to a new regulation restricting the exportation of chemotherapy drugs out of India. The drugs eventually arrived after seeking assistance from the Foreign Affairs Ministry and Embassy of India. We are very grateful to our partnership with Ponalab India who has made it easier for the organisation to provide the clinical services which one Kidzcan’s major mandates.

These drugs are a life line to the all children suffering from cancer and without the support from donors and partners from GlobalGiving who avail grants in USD, Kidzcan would not be able to make these procurements. A big thank you to all our donors during this covid-19 pandemic and continued support.

Kidzcan will continue to advocate and lobby to the Ministry of Health to allocate a small percentage through the fiscus to childhood cancer in Zimbabwe and play their part as government.

Kidzcan major activities 

1. Kidzcan ensured the availability, accessibility and affordability of childhood cancer clinical services within the public health system. Despite challenges experienced in Zimbabwe’s health delivery system, Kidzcan managed to register 133 new children who were provided with diagnostics, drugs, transport as well as psychosocial support. The new cases and support provided was however lower than last year due to Covid-19 pandemic that affected movement of those who might have wanted to be diagnosed.
2. Provision of transport services to reduce the default rate of children with cancer and contribute to the reduction of mortality rate in Zimbabwe. Kidzcan comprehensively used mobile services to ensure 272 children with cancer and their parents/guardians always came for their cycles. In addition with the new RBZ regulations on Ecocash transactions this has made it very difficult for Kidzcan to send bus fares to patients on, Kidzcan used its own vehicles for those within the environs of Harare in some cases.
3. Kidzcan distributed food hampers to 150 children with cancer and their parents/guardians, especially during the lockdown as most families found it difficult to access food.

       4. Provision of psychosocial support to193 children with cancer and their parents was done, together with             the holding of 7 parents support group meetings to enhance treatment outcomes. Social media                         parents groups were also formed for parents to share key information on childhood cancer.

        5.Kidzcan carried out various advocacy programmes, including virtual ones during the lockdown period               as we hoisted the motto that cancer does not wait.     

Links:

• Sanitisation project handover to Hospital
• Covid-19 Donation to Hospital

• Activity_pictures.docx (DOCX)