High-quality treatment of childhood cancer – a right, not a favor

A few years ago, a mother called me and asked me to find a job for her son. This would have been a typical Kenyan request. The difference is that the young man had been treated for childhood cancer a decade and a half earlier.

He had completed treatment, graduated from high school and college, and was looking forward to entering the workforce. Another mother could not hide her tears of joy as she recounted how her son, who was treated for cancer at age two, is now doing well in preschool.

Unfortunately, there are few success stories of children who are able to attend school or complete college despite treatment. This should be the rule and not the exception, as shown by survival rates of up to 80 percent in the global north.

Childhood cancer can have a negative impact on education, future development and life chances. Childhood cancer can lay the foundation for lifelong social stigma and subtle discrimination in employment and health insurance.

A good example of this is children being treated for blood cancer, who may have to spend up to six months in hospital and many more months in outpatient treatment, losing school time and childhood memories.

There is an urgent need to strengthen and institutionalize programs aimed at creating better memories for children hospitalized with cancer through therapeutic art, music, and crafts. Clinicians also need to be intentional about increasing and encouraging age-appropriate participation and involvement of children in decisions about their own treatment.

Everything possible should be done holistically to ensure that children are cured of cancer and can grow up and contribute to the social and economic development of our country. The fact that almost 75 percent of children diagnosed with cancer die of cancer is a fundamental failure and to some extent a violation of international conventions on the rights of children to which Kenya is a signatory.

For example, the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child clearly states that every child has the right to access health care, including medical and rehabilitation services, regardless of their place of residence or insurance status.

That is why quality healthcare is a right, not a commodity traded by corporations or a welfare package handed out by politicians.

Every member of our society, from professionals, politicians, religious and business leaders to ordinary Kenyans, has a moral responsibility to act with a sense of urgency to improve childhood cancer outcomes.

Ultimately, our values ​​and humanity as Kenyans can only be measured by how well we treat the most vulnerable, especially children.

Perhaps a good starting point for our rehabilitation would be to pass legislation requiring that 50 percent of assets seized through corruption be allocated to national childhood cancer programs.

September is World Childhood Cancer Awareness Month. This is a reminder of our commitment as a country to ensure that no child with cancer is denied the right to access the best possible healthcare.