Carlos Rodriguez-Galindo, EVP and Chair, Department of Global Pediatric Medicine at St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, shared on LinkedIn:
“During Childhood Cancer Awareness Month, we are reminded of both the extraordinary progress that has been made and the profound inequities that still determine whether a child with cancer can survive.
That is why the launch of the new market shaping strategy for childhood cancer medicines is such an important moment.
For too many children around the world, access to life-saving medicines is still uncertain. Families should not have to wonder whether treatment will be available.
Physicians should not have to make decisions based on shortages or doubts about the quality of medicines. And no child’s chance of survival should depend on where they are born.
Through the Global Platform for Access to Childhood Cancer Medicines, St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, World Health Organization, UNICEF and the Pan American Health Organization Strategic Fund have worked to move market shaping from an ambition to a credible, evidence-based strategy that can be put into action.
That is a significant achievement in a market that has been historically neglected. It also carries lessons for the broader NCD community about what is possible when we confront the structural barriers that stand between patients and essential medicines.
I am deeply proud of the role St. Jude has played in helping advance this work.
By creating healthier and more sustainable markets, we can help ensure that every child, everywhere, has a fair opportunity to receive life-saving treatment and reach their full potential.
But this strategy is not the finish line. It is a commitment to what comes next.
Now we must turn it into sustained action, stronger systems and more reliable access for children and families around the world.
As we mark Childhood Cancer Awareness Month, that is the progress we should celebrate, and the responsibility we should carry forward.”
Closing the childhood cancer survival gap through sustainable access to medicines
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