Raising awareness to improve the diagnosis of childhood cancer

NEED

One in 600 children per annum will contract cancer by the age of 16. Of these cancers 75% are curable if diagnosed early. In South Africa, however, the survival rate for childhood cancer languishes around 50%. Far too many childhood cancers are diagnosed at an advanced stage, when treatment is much more difficult. This is because of poor medical infrastructure, poverty-stricken patients, and the stigma that occurs when cancer is mistaken for HIV/AIDS. Raising awareness and improving access to diagnosis and treatment will allow for earlier diagnosis and improve the prospects for a full recovery.

OVERVIEW

In its capacity as South Africa’s leading childhood cancer support and advocacy organisation CHOC is embarking on a campaign to raise awareness about the warning signs of childhood cancer so that patients get the correct diagnosis and appropriate treatment in the early stages of the disease. The awareness campaign will focus on educating healthcare workers and local people at over 500 clinics in Limpopo as well as at Provincial Department of Health meetings, by training people to identify warning signs and distributing promotional materials and instructional DVDs.

Many communities throughout Limpopo are characterised by the lack of public health infrastructure and poverty that make early detection and treatment so difficult. Through this project CHOC will help build local capacity and improve childhood cancer survival rates.

WHAT WE LIKE ABOUT THIS PROJECT

• The programme is focused on early diagnosis and, if successful, this could not only greatly improve survival and recovery rates but also make treatments of childhood cancer much more simple and cost-effective.
• By focusing on training doctors and carers the awareness campaign is targeting those with the highest likelihood of encountering cancer, making the effort more effective than a more broad brush approach which has been tried in the past with limited results.
• The campaign complements CHOC’s existing activities of providing services to families with children with cancer and already features prominently in its promotional materials.

IMPACT HIGHLIGHTS

Early detection and diagnosis remains a child’s best defence against cancer. It is estimated that in South Africa only half of the children who develop cancer are ever diagnosed, and only half of these survive, often because by the time they are diagnosed the cancer is already in an advanced stage. Simply improving detection and diagnosis, therefore, has enormous potential for saving the lives of many hundreds of children every year.

This awareness campaign aims to increase the number of correct and early diagnoses in over 500 clinics in Limpopo. CHOC will monitor the diagnoses of cancer in children throughout Limpopo to determine whether there is an increase and whether diagnoses are being made at an earlier stage. CHOC will follow up with those who are collaborating on the project with CHOC to see whether they have found it easier to identify and refer cancer cases.

ORGANISATION CAPACITY

CHOC started in 1979 when the parents of children with cancer grouped together to offer support to families in similar situations. Today it provides CHOC Houses which allow families travelling from rural areas for treatment to stay in an appropriate and comfortable environment while treatment is administered. It also provides social and auxiliary services to paediatric oncology wards, providing paediatric social workers and funding other improvements in equipment and environment. Its beneficiaries are mainly (86%) from impoverished backgrounds and are referred to the organization by doctors. It helps between 600 and 800 newly diagnosed children and their parents yearly. This excludes the children from previous years still undergoing treatment or who are in the maintanace phase of treatment.

CHOC is a highly professional organization which was rated South Africa’s 7th most trusted non-profit organisation in a recent poll. It has expanded considerably with Divisional Managers heading its operations in Johannesburg, Pretoria, KwaZulu-Natal, the Free State, Eastern Cape and the Western Cape. It has CHOC Houses and lodges in all these locations. CHOC carefully budgets its resources to respond to the needs that its beneficiaries find most important. Recently it has funded redecoration projects, upgraded equipment in paediatric oncology wards, and provided money for transport for parents and children to access treatment when coming from remote areas.

The organisation works closely with paediatric oncologists to identify those that can benefit from the support and programmes that it offers and to determine what medical or other support they could use. These strategic partnerships help to achieve CHOC’s main purpose of contributing to the wellbeing of children with cancer and life-threatening blood disorders and their families and to make a real difference.

PROJECT PROFILE

Key Strengths

• Concept: Responds to a clear identified need for early detection and diagnosis.
• Design: Targeting healthcare professionals increases chances of success.
• Capability: The leadership team is experienced and capable, and includes many current and former beneficiaries.
• Sustainability: Raising awareness should, if done effectively, translate into permanent behavioural changes.

Key Risks - Low

• Concept: Raising awareness is an intangible impact and will be hard to measure and determine success.
• Capability: CHOC’s previous awareness campaign was not very effective because it was not sufficiently resourced.
• Sustainability: Follow up visits and campaigns may be necessary to maintain levels of awareness.