11:09, 15 января 2024, Bishkek - 24.kg news agency , Maria ORLOVA
Kyrgyzstan has joined the Global Initiative for Childhood Cancer. The press center of the Ministry of Health reported.
According to its data, the National Center for Maternal and Childhood Welfare passed the selection as a focal health organization of the country and joined the international program Global Initiative for Childhood Cancer.
«The program allows Kyrgyzstan to improve the quality of diagnosis and treatment of childhood cancer. Access to inexpensive and basic medicines and technologies, social support for families of children with cancer will be improved,» the ministry said.
The initiative aims to increase the global survival rate of children with cancer to at least 60 percent by 2030.
«Five years after the launch of the Global Initiative for Childhood Cancer program, more than 70 countries in six WHO regions have demonstrated improved care for children with cancer in low- and middle-income countries, possible with strong political will, multi-sectoral commitments and strategic investments,» the Health Ministry added.
The ministry stressed that childhood cancer is a serious and urgent public health problem. According to the Global Burden of Disease study, it is the ninth most important cause of childhood diseases in the world. Nearly 80 percent of all children diagnosed with cancer live in low- and middle-income countries where treatment is often unaffordable, prompting the UN General Assembly to launch the global initiative to fight pediatric oncology.
«From August 21 to August 25, Bishkek hosted a WHO mission to improve cancer control in Kyrgyzstan. The mission was sent to us to identify existing problems on the way to provide highly qualified oncological care and on the basis of the data received, their analysis, to help develop standards and methods to plan and implement measures for early detection and treatment of cancer, palliative care and support the people who have suffered from cancer, to develop and offer the country the best ways to solve the existing problems,» the ministry said.