Childhood Cancer Awareness month
September-Childhood Cancer Awareness month- is here with us again and once again it is time to honor and remember children and families affected by childhood cancer. Approximately 160,000 children are diagnosed with cancers worldwide every year. This means that 438 children are diagnosed with cancer every day in the world.
Advertisement
Just as cancer is feared in adults because it readily kills, It does same in children if the required attention is not paid to it. Again it is estimated worldwide that, 90,000 children succumb to cancer every year translating to 10 deaths every hour. This estimation is grossly understated in Africa and other less endowed parts of the world.
Data from the Cancer unit of the children's block, Korle Bu Teaching Hospital suggests that on the average there are about 10 new diagnosis of children with cancer every month!
This modest incidence could easily double or even triple if data from other centres from the country such as Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital, Tamale Teaching Hospital, other district hospitals and traditional healing centres countrywide are factored in.
About 40 per cent of children diagnosed are below the age of five years, that vulnerable period where children may exhibit false sense of wellbeing until the last breath is exhausted. Thus the ability to pick up cancers in such population relies heavily on a very high index of suspicion. Boys seem to be more affected than girls.
Fortunately, there is an enhanced pick up rate of childhood cancers due to early reporting to hospitals, enhanced facilities for diagnosing childhood cancers and markedly improved ability for health workers to diagnose promptly these cancers.
The usefulness of early pick up lies in the fact that unlike adult cancers, about 90 per cent of childhood cancers are curable. And the earlier it is diagnosed and treatment instituted, the better the outcome.
This means parents must be able to pick early some signs and symptoms of childhood cancers. Because the commonest of cancers present with swellings which in Akan is called "POMPO", I use this mnemonic to help parents remember the warning signs that may warrant investigation for childhood cancers.
P - represents Pain - in bones, joints, back ( spine) and bones that easily fracture.
O- Ominous signs such as change in behaviour, balance or gait, loss of milestones, headache and increasing head circumference.
M- Masses or swellings in the body. This can be in the abdomen, head and neck, pelvis, testis and even in bones. This implies that parents should pay more than the usual attention when bathing or playing with their children . Any suspicious masses must be reported for a thorough check up.
P- Pallor- if for no reason a child is pale, feels tired, lacks energy or bleeds easily from minor things as tooth brushing, these children must be checked to ensure that there is no cancer of the bone marrow predisposing them to bleed easily.
O- Once seen, report straightway. These signs include white spot in pupil of the eye (cat eye), squint, blindness or bulging of eyes. Also included are persistent fever and unexplained weight loss.
Any of these signs must be reported to be investigated further so treatment can be started early.
There are certain specific circumstances where one must be especially vigilant on the part of health workers about possibility of childhood malignancy. Children with certain skin conditions called neurocutaneous syndromes are at increased risk of developing cancers.
In addition, certain children with chromosomal anomalies, commonest of which is Down syndrome, are at increased risk of cancers. Children with lowered immunity such as HIV infections and other congenital immune deficiencies, those exposed to radiations, or with other siblings who have suffered from cancer are all at higher risk of developing cancers and must be paid more than the usual attention.
So this September, wherever we are, is it Facebook? Twitter? Whatsapp? Instagram? Snapchat? Which ever social media we find ourselves, let us just spread the news.
[email protected]
A member of Paediatric
Society of Ghana
