Join us on Thursday, October 26, 2023, from 12:00 p.m. to 2:00 p.m. (EDT) for the launch of the special supplement of the Pan American Journal of Public Health on childhood cancer. This special supplement highlights the joint accomplishments of the Pan American Sanitary Bureau, St. Jude Children´s Research Hospital, and the Member States and reminds us that there is still a long way to go to ensure full implementation of the WHO CureAll framework in the Americas
The event is part of the activities for the observation of Childhood Cancer Awareness Month - September 2023- and will be held in Spanish, English, French, and Portuguese, and simultaneous translation will be available.
How to participate
- DATE: Thursday, October 26, 2023
- TIME: 12:00 PM (EDT or Washington DC time) [check the local time in other cities at the end of this page]
- LANGUAGES: English, Spanish, Portuguese, and French with simultaneous translation.
- REGISTRATION: https://bit.ly/3PKJGC2
Context
Every year, more than 280,000 children worldwide are diagnosed with cancer, 90% of whom live in low and middle-income countries (LMICs) where treatment is unavailable or unaffordable. Treatment failure is common and multifactorial in many LMIC, including failure to diagnose, misdiagnosis, unaffordable or abandoned treatment, toxic (treatment-related) death, and excess relapse around the globe, with the result that only about 20% of children with cancer in LMICs survive, compared to over 80% in high-income countries. To act on this inequity, in September 2018, WHO launched the Global Initiative for Childhood Cancer (GICC) with the goal of achieving at least 60% survival for children with cancer by 2030. If successfully implemented, it is estimated that an additional one million children with cancer could be saved over the next decade.
In Latin America and the Caribbean, it is estimated that at least 29,000 children under 19 years of age will develop cancer each year, and more than 10,000 children will die. Among the most important factors that contribute to poor survival from childhood cancer are mortality associated with infections, and difficulty in accessing timely and quality treatment. There is a complex interplay of factors contributing to this profound inequality, rooted in weak health systems unable to meet the needs of children and their families and weak political prioritization of childhood cancer.
As part of the first 5 years since the launch of the GICC, we must reflect on our accomplishments and challenges in childhood cancer and encourage all of our Member States to move decisively towards full implementation of best practices in childhood cancer control, underpinned by a transformative vision for health equity. This special supplement on childhood cancer highlights the joint accomplishments of the Pan American Sanitary Bureau, St Jude Children´s Research Hospital, and the Member States and reminds us that there is still a long way to go to ensure full implementation of the WHO CureAll framework in the Americas.
Agenda
12:00 pm – 12:05 pm Opening remarks.
Dr. Anselm Hennis, NMH Director - PAHO, and Carlos Rodriguez-Galindo, Director St. Jude Global, St. Jude Children´s Research Hospital.
12:05 pm – 12:10 pm Remarks by the Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of Public Health of the Pan American Health Organization.
Dr. Damian Vazquez, Specialist, Journal Management- PAHO.
12:10 pm – 12:15 pm Special issue of childhood cancer.
Dr. Mauricio Maza, Advisor, Cancer Prevention and Control, NMH - PAHO.
12:15 pm – 12:20 pm Strengthening the health system through a regional collaborative effort.
Catherine Lam,MD,MPH, Director, Asia Pacific Region, St. Jude Global Director, Health Systems Unit Co-Director, WHO Collaborating Centre for Childhood Cancer PAHO .
12:20 pm – 12:30 pm Progress and challenges in the global childhood cancer care.
Roberta Ortiz, Official Medical Officer of the Global Initiative for Childhood Cancer, Headquarters/UCN/ENT/MNDGeneva, Switzerland.
12:30 pm – 12:40 pm Incidence of Childhood Cancer in Latin America and The Caribbean: coverage, patterns and trends.
Eva Steliarova, Scientist at the Cancer Surveillance Branch, IARC.
12:40 pm – 12:50 pm Current situation of childhood cancer in Latin America and the Caribbean.
Liliana Vasquez, MSc. International Consultant for the Global Initiative against Childhood Cancer, NMH-PAHO and Patricia Loggetto, Public Policy Master, Project Coordinator, Central and South America Regional Program, St. Jude Department of Global Pediatric Medicine.
12:50 pm – 01:10 pm Pannel: Impact of the WHO Global Initiative for Childhood Cancer at a national level. (Peru, Panama, El Salvador and Chile)
Essy Maradiegue, Cancer Prevention and Control of the Ministry of Health of Peru; Karina Quintero, Pediatric Oncologist, Head of the Oncology Service at the Children's Hospital of Panama; Andrea Chacon, Technical Collaborator, National Directorate of Non-Communicable Diseases Ministry of Health of El Salvador; and Julia Palma, Pediatric Oncologist, Head of the National Cancer Agency of the Ministry of Health of the Government of Chile.
01:10 pm – 01:20 pm Pannel: Subregional efforts to improve childhood cancer care (Central America, South America, and the Caribbean)
Katiuska Moreno, National Consultant in support of the implementation of Strategic Cooperation Actions in Central America, PAHO-CAM; Maria Calle, Executive Secretary of the Andean Health Organization - Hipólito Unanue ORAS-CONHU; and Michelle Reece-Mill, The University of the West Indies, Mona, Jamaica.
01:20 pm – 01:40 pm Pannel: Collaborative work and the GICC (Psychological standards of care, Palliative care education, Febrile neutropenia and Role of civil society in childhood cancer)
Viviana Trigoso, Pontifical Catholic University of Peru, Ximena García, Project Program Coordinator at St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, Ana Mendieta, Pediatrician, Emergency Specialist, Edgardo Rebagliati Martins Hospital, Peru, and Marcela Zubieta, Member of the CCI Board of Directors, Representative of Latin America. President of Our Children of Chile Foundation.
01:40 pm – 01:50 pm Storytelling strategy to promote national policies.
Soad Fuentes-Alabí, MPH. International Consultant for the Global Initiative against Childhood Cancer, NMH-PAHO, Irini Albanti, PH, MPH, MA Executive Director Harvard Humanitarian Initiative, and Meghan Shea, BA, MFA, director, producer, and co-founder of Persistent Productions Film (P2).
01:50 pm – 02:00 pm Final remarks.
Carlos Rodriguez-Galindo, Director St. Jude Global, St. Jude Children´s Research Hospital.
Time in other cities
- 8:00 a.m.– Los Angeles, Vancouver
- 9:00 a.m. – Belmopan, Guatemala City, Managua, Mexico City, San Jose (CR), San Salvador, Tegucigalpa
- 11:00 a.m. – Bogota, Panamá City, Kingston, Lima, Quito
- 12:00 p.m. – Asunción, Bridgetown, Caracas, Castries, Georgetown, Havana, La Paz, Nassau, Ottawa, Port-au-Prince, Port of Spain, San Juan, Santo Domingo, Washington DC
- 1:00 p.m. – Buenos Aires, Brasilia, Montevideo, Paramaribo, Santiago
- 6:00 p.m. – Geneva, Madrid
For other cities, check the local time in the following link.
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