Beyond lip service on childhood cancer

THE EDITOR, Madam:

By the time this letter reaches you, September, ‘Children’s Cancer Awareness Month’, will have passed. This letter is as much an attempt to prolong childhood cancer awareness as it is to publicise Jamaica Association of Paediatric Surgeons’ (JAPS’) upcoming annual scientific conference, scheduled for Sunday, November 15, 2026. The theme will be ‘Advancing Paediatric Cancer Care in Jamaica: Integrating Research, Innovation and Compassion’.

Jamaica’s cure rates for children with cancer is nowhere near the 80 per cent reported in high-income countries. To get there, the population’s support must move beyond lip service towards greater engagement with the plight of affected children, provide ready financial support for needy families, secure access to advanced modalities of treatment, some of which are unavailable locally, and educate our population to follow sound medical advice, thereby limiting abandonment of treatment. JAPS pledges to promote measures that improve cancer cure rates in Jamaica.

The upcoming conference will explore international advances in the treatment of paediatric cancers through the engagement of world-renown specialists including Drs Andrew Davidoff, Dhanya Mullassery and Kerise Pinkney from St Jude Children’s Research Hospital, Great Ormond Street Hospital, London and Columbia University, USA, respectively. The burden of cancer in Jamaica’s children will be defined, and advances in surgical treatment, targeted therapy and psychological care will be outlined. Focus will be on barriers to effective cancer treatment, particularly cost and creative measures to increase insurance coverage. Survivor experience with cancer will be shared by volunteer subjects along with their families.

Jamaicans are encouraged to look out for advertisements closer to the event along with ways to secure the Zoom link. The public is invited.

Newton D. Duncan ,

Professor Emeritus, UWI

Scientific Chairman, JAPS