Childhood cancer treatment remains inadequate

At present 10 government hospitals and a few NGOs are providing treatment for childhood cancer that can cover less than 10 percent of the total patients added to the population every year. Associate Professor Dr Zohora Jameela Khan of Paediatric Haematology and Oncology Department at Dhaka Medical College (DMC) said the number of children infected with cancer every year cannot be ascertained as there is no population-based cancer registry in Bangladesh. It can be assumed that the number would be as much as 8,000 whereas only 800 to 1,000 children are diagnosed with cancer each year, she added. A total of 4,465 children diagnosed with cancer were registered through World Child Cancer Hospital Programmes in 2016. According to World Child Cancer Report 2005, Bangladesh has some 1.3 million to 1.5 million childhood cancer patients. Dr Zohora Jameela Khan said at present five hospitals in Dhaka and five government hospitals in Chittagong, Barisal, Rajshahi, Khulna and Sylhet are providing cancer treatment. But the number of beds is very limited. DMCH and the National Institute of Cancer Research and Hospital (NICRH) in Dhaka have 18 and 20 beds respectively. Asked about the reasons for drawbacks of ensuring treatment of childhood cancer in the country, she pointed to lack of infrastructure, inadequate knowledge and skills of physicians, paucity of drugs and access to the facilities. She said the treatment might be accessed from government hospitals at a lower cost, but not the drugs. High cost of drugs sometimes compels the parents to stop the treatment of their children and the drug administration needs to ensure affordable drugs to the patients, she recommended.National guideline for childhood cancer treatment launchedThe First National Guidelines for Management of Childhood Malignancies in Bangladesh was launched on Wednesday morning. The principal of DMC, Prof Dr Ismail Khan, unveiled the guideline at a function at the college. Sponsored by the Directorate General of Health Services, a three-member editorial body started working on the guideline in January last year and prepared a draft in August. The draft was sent to foreign expert Tim Osborn Eden who returned it with some correction later. Dr Jameela Khan, who was a member of the editorial body, said while working on the guideline they had conducted several workshops with almost all the paediatric cancer physicians in the country and took their recommendations. The copy of the guideline had already been sent to the government hospitals, she added. Meanwhile, BSMMU inaugurated an ASIC Play Centre for childhood cancer patients on Wednesday morning.