There are an estimated 300 000 children that are between the ages of 0 to 19 years that are diagnosed with childhood cancer worldwide each year. This works out to a child being diagnosed with cancer every two minutes. These disturbing statistics are based on estimates by the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC), the specialized cancer agency of the World Health Organization (WHO) and supported by the Union for International Cancer Control (UICC).
The St. Baldrick’s Foundation is one of the largest private funders of childhood cancer research grants in the United States. The foundation is working hard to raise awareness of these new statistics and highlight the ongoing need for childhood cancer research funding. Becky Chapman Weaver, Chief Mission Officer at St. Baldrick’s Foundation said, “We know that every two minutes a child is diagnosed with cancer worldwide, rather than every three minutes as was thought from previous studies. Until now, we have all underestimated just how many kids are affected by cancer.”
The recently released number of cases is a significant increase from the previously reported 165 000 diagnoses per year. This previous statistic only includes data on children between the ages of 0 – 14 years old, whereas current research includes a more precise and high-quality sample. Dr Eva Steliarova – Foucher, a scientist in IARC’s Section of Cancer Surveillance, said “Childhood cancer is a public health problem, and more resources and research are needed to improve diagnosis, treatment and infrastructure.” She continued to say, “Currently, many world regions still either have no information on the cancer burden in children or lack adequate resources to provide high-quality information. We are happy to see cancer research funders raise awareness of the true impact of childhood cancers.” To read this full article, click here.
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