KARACHI: Every year, around 8000 to 10,000 children are diagnosed with different types of cancer in Pakistan but unfortunately, only 25 to 30 percent children survive as more than 40 percent of the children are brought to health facilities for treatment when cancer has spread to other organs and parts of the body, experts said on Tuesday.

They were speaking at an awareness session in connection with International Childhood Cancer Day 2022, organized by Department of Paediatric Haematology and Oncology at Indus Health Network on Tuesday.

On the occasion, a walk was also held at the Indus Hospital premises to create awareness about childhood cancer and it was attended by senior doctors, nurses, paramedical staff and parents of the children suffering from cancer.

Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Indus Hospital Dr Abdul Bari Khan, speaking on the occasion, said every year around 8000 to 10,000 children are diagnosed with different types of cancer, of them over 70 percent die due to a variety of reasons. He added that despite high mortality, childhood cancer is treatable if diagnosed earlier and patients are brought to health facilities without any delay.

“In addition to these children, thousands of more children suffer from different types of cancer but they never reach to any health facility as their parents are unaware of the symptoms of the disease,” Prof. Abdul Bari said and added that Indus Hospital Karachi had one of the best childhood cancer treatment facilities in the country with 85 beds.

“We are going to help establish childhood cancer treatment facilities at other hospitals in Balochistan, other cities of Sindh and remote parts of the country to save as much lives of children with cancer as possible”, Dr Abdul Bari added.

Senior paediatric oncologist at Indus Hospital Karachi Dr Rafie Raza said prevalence of childhood cancer is 100 per million in Pakistan and added that around 8000 to 10,000 children are annually diagnosed with childhood cancer, of them only 2000 to 2500 manage to survive in Pakistan.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2022