COVID-19: treatment of childhood cancer can't stop

Receiving a Cancer diagnosis is a tough moment to all children and their relatives when they arrive at GRAACC´s Hospital, due to all the changes and uncertainties that lies ahead of them. Adding a Covid-19 pandemic scenario to that diagnosis, poses an extra challenge. This was the case of young Luize, who was only 6 months old when she received confirmation that had cancer, initiating the treatment during the pandemic. Luize, back then living in South of Brazil, was routed to GRAACC´s Hospital in São Paulo, a national reference in pediatric oncology for 30 years that has the mission to offer every chance of cure to children and teenagers with cancer, providing life quality and reaching an average of 70% cure cases.

In GRAACC, the patient will find a complete infrastructure, from Medicine Excellency to a humanized care performed by a multidisciplinary team of specialized professionals. The Hospital provides differentiated treatment with divided ambulatories according to the type of cancer, assuring that an experienced team specialized in that kind of tumor attends the patient. Moreover, all the resources to diagnose and treat the tumor like specialized facilities, chemotherapy, radiotherapy, Bone marrow transplant, surgery center, pediatric ICU, among others, are all centralized in one place.

During this pandemic period, GRAACC´s Hospital relied on the charity from people and companies around the world, which altogether provided Luize a specialized and complete oncologic treatment. GRAACC exists to treat Luize and the other four thousand children that arrives at the Hospital every year. As without donations this mission would not be possible, the donors are a crucial part of this story.

After more than one year of pandemic, decreed by the World Health Organization (WHO) in March last year, several sectors are experiencing difficulties. One of the segments that have suffered consequences is that of health institutions, which need donations to ensure their services to patients.

This is the case of our hospital, which is a reference in the treatment of cancer in children and adolescents and receives children from all over Brazil. “One of our main fundraising channels, i.e., events, has vanished, causing a budget deficit. Our partnerships with the retail sector that helps us making money with marketing actions related to the cause have also been impacted, since many companies have closed. That is why, right now, we strongly rely on people’s donations, regardless of the amount. One should not forget that GRAACC is supported by contributions of small recurring amounts and with the permanent support of companies. We count on society in this difficult phase,” says Tammy Allersdorfer, GRAACC’s Superintendent of Institutional Development.

Since cancer does not wait, GRAACC’s Hospital keeps its doors open. Last year alone, 390 children and adolescents came to the hospital seeking treatment and a cure for cancer. One of these children, Gabriela, was diagnosed with kidney cancer in March 2020, when she was just over one year old. She and her family moved from Primavera do Leste, a city in the state of Mato Grosso, to São Paulo to receive professional treatment at our hospital.

After some difficult months of treatment, she was discharged at the age of two. The family moved back to its hometown and Gabriela resumed playing with her cousins, just like any healthy child. Now, she only comes back to São Paulo for consultations and follow-up exams.

Every day, children like Gabriela come to our hospital in search of cancer treatment and cure. With the help of people like you, we are able to offer the most advanced treatments so that they get every chance of being cured, preserving their quality of life.