• INTERNATIONAL CHILDHOOD CANCER DAY
KATHMANDU, FEBRUARY 15
Of the total cancer surviving children, two-thirds are deprived of medical treatment facilities, states a report.
A large number of children with cancer are deprived of treatment due to financial crisis and also because of lack of public awareness.
Director at Kanti Children's Hospital, Dr Ajit Rayamajhi, said that only one-third cancer survivor children turn up in the hospital for treatment.
International Childhood Cancer Day is being observed today across the world, including in Nepal.
Rayamajhi shared that many parents lacked awareness that childhood cancer could be cured. He added, "Many parents do not bring their children to hospital for treatment thinking that cancer treatment is expensive.
It takes two to three years of treatment."
It is necessary to make parents aware that cancer can be cured and treatment of cancer is not so expensive, said Director Rayamajhi.
The government had made available some childhood cancer treatment services at hospitals free of cost and it has also been providing medicine up to Rs 100,000 free.
He said that around 20-30 per cent children visiting the hospital return home without treatment or quit treatment in the middle due to financial reasons.
Out of 25,000 new cancer patients in the country every year, 1,500 are children. Children are found to suffer from blood cancer, lymphoma, retinoblastoma, and brain and kidney tumour.
A total of 200 cancer surviving children received treatment at Kanti Children Hospital last year.
Similarly, Director at Bhaktapur Cancer Hospital Dr Bishnu Dutta Poudel said 70 per cent childhood cancer could be cured if diagnosed on time.
Poudel said that 43 children between one and four years of age, 63 between five and 14 years age, and 214 aged between fifteen and nineteen received treatment at Bhaktapur Cancer Hospital last year.
Ophthalmologist Dr Purnima Rajkarnikar of Tilganga Institute of Ophthalmology stated that children were found to be suffering from retinoblastoma.
Mostly children below five years were found suffering from such problem. Around 50 children suffering from retinoblastoma visit Tilganga Hospital annually, she said.
Likewise, Patan Hospital has also offered treatment to cancer survivor children for the last two years. Nepal has set a target to fully cure 60 per cent of the total childhood cancer patients by 2030.
A version of this article appears in the print on February 16, 2022, of The Himalayan Times.
