Sunil Bhat about childhood cancer awareness

Sunil Bhat shared on X:

“Every 1.5  minutes a child dies from cancer. That makes childhood cancer the leading non-communicable disease killer of children around the world, regardless of where  they live.”

“Only 29% of low-income countries report that cancer medicines are generally available to their populations compared to 96% of high-income countries.”

“Ensuring children are well nourished during cancer treatment is crucial to ensuing better outcomes. Both cancer itself and the treatments for cancer are demanding on the human body, especially when that body is young and small. Because of this, survival rates drop dramatically when children are already weakened by malnutrition. The prevelence of malnutrition can reach 50-70% in some regions.”

“Blood products and transfusions are a standard element of many medical procedures and is often necessary during treatment of childhood cancer, but only 13% of Lower-Middle Income Countries (LMIC) have a national hemovigilance system to ensure the safety of blood transfusions. In areas with high rates of blood-borne diseases, this is highly dangerous.”

“Myth: Children Cannot Tolerate Chemotherapy

Fact: Children often tolerate chemotherapy better than adults. While chemotherapy is challenging for anyone, pediatric patients tend to recover faster from its side effects due to their resilience and higher capacity for regeneration. With tailored treatment plans, many children with cancer succesfully complete chemotherapy and go on to live healthy lives.”

Source: Sunil Bhat/X

More posts about Childhood cancer on oncodaily.com

Sunil Bhat serves as the Vice Chairman of Narayana Health and leads the Department of Pediatric Hematology, Oncology, and Bone Marrow Transplant at Mazumdar Shaw Cancer Center, Narayana Health City, Bangalore. He specializes in pediatric bone marrow transplants and has performed over 400 transplants.