Improving the quality of care services for children with cancer
St Jude Children's Research Hospital and PAHO work together to advance the care of children with cancer in Latin America and the Caribbean
With a long history in the fight against childhood cancer and the accumulated experience of more than half a century in this area, St. Jude Children's Research Hospital is one of the world’s leading institutions in the care of children suffering from this disease. It collaborates with the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) to transform pediatric cancer care in Latin America and the Caribbean.
St. Jude Children's Research Hospital is a comprehensive cancer center in the United States dedicated exclusively to children and is the first and only WHO Collaborating Centre for Childhood Cancer. Since its founding in 1962, St. Jude has focused on transformative discoveries that would enable more children with life-threatening diseases to have access to quality care, and sharing these with the scientific community at a global level. In particular, St. Jude has collaborated with partners to develop protocols for pediatric cancer care that take into account the context and available means in countries with fewer resources, aiming to save thousands of children.
The relationship between PAHO and St. Jude Children's Research Hospital was strengthened in 2018 with the creation of St. Jude Global, with a mission to improve the survival rates of children with cancer and other catastrophic diseases worldwide. This partnership further intensified that year, when WHO launched the Global Initiative for Childhood Cancer (GICC). In addition to providing technical support for the conceptualization of the initiative, St Jude Children's Research Hospital has supported the GICC with a global investment of millions of dollars for five years; in the Americas, it collaborates with PAHO in the implementation of the GICC.
Strengthening the response of health systems to childhood cancer in the region
In an effort to strengthen the health systems response to childhood cancer, St. Jude Children's Research Hospital and PAHO support national authorities and organizations working in the pediatric area in the development of National Childhood Cancer Plans. Within the framework of the GICC, it seeks to achieve a survival rate of at least 60% by the year 2030 for the six most frequent types of cancer in children. This initiative began in Peru and in Central American countries with the support from the Council of Ministers of Health of Central America (COMISCA) and other key collaborators.
The collaboration between both organizations focuses on the design, implementation and monitoring of quality improvement projects in hospital services for children with cancer, and on the exchange of knowledge with experts in pediatric cancer. A technical package, called CUREAll, is guiding the development of these national childhood cancer plans and interventions. Activities include supporting clinical care for the most vulnerable children, ensuring that all children with cancer have access to high-quality medicines and technologies, strengthening training programs through the development of centers of excellence, and supporting the development of care coverage regulations and treatment and monitoring tools.
In its collaboration with PAHO and the countries of Latin America and the Caribbean, St. Jude Children's Research Hospital makes available its extensive technical resources and its networks of knowledge and experts throughout the world to support countries in designing their interventions and improve care in this area.
Joint collaboration from the beginning of each project, openness to dialogue and the exchange of ideas and a willingness to share knowledge and resources are the characteristics that make St. Jude Children's Research Hospital stand out as a key partner in saving the lives of thousands of children with cancer in Latin America and the Caribbean.
