ACT 4 Children shared a post on LinkedIn:
“Change starts with those closest to the problem.
In Peru, practitioners didn’t just deliver care; they helped shape the national strategy for childhood cancer.
With an estimated 1,931 new childhood and adolescent cancer cases and 797 deaths each year, clinical leaders, partners, and advocates came together to confront persistent challenges like late diagnosis and treatment abandonment.
The result:
- A National Pediatric Cancer Plan and the passage of the Childhood Cancer Law (Law N° 31041), creating a stronger framework for universal access to diagnosis and treatment
- A major focus on early diagnosis, helping reduce diagnostic delays through strengthened provider training and a national oncology network
- Targeted action to reduce treatment abandonment, bringing rates down from nearly 18% to 8.5%, supported by measures including financial assistance and paid parental leave for families
- Investment in data, prevention, and quality care through a national pediatric cancer registry, prevention programmes, HPV vaccination campaigns, and efforts to decentralize specialized oncology services beyond Lima to regional hospitals across the country
Since the implementation of the World Health Organization Global Initiative for Childhood Cancer in 2019, Peru has made significant progress. More children now have access to specialized oncology care across 13 hospitals, while thousands of healthcare professionals have been trained in pediatric oncology and palliative care.
These are not abstract priorities. They reflect what providers, children, and families experience every day.
This is advocacy at its most effective: frontline insight transformed into national action, and national action creating hope for children with cancer.”
Other articles about ACT 4 Children on OncoDaily.
