Health Ministry: 7.8% Of Cancer Ceases In Palestine Are Children

Ramallah, 21 Jumadil Awwal 1438/19 February 2017 (MINA) – The Palestinian Ministry of Health (MOH) reported that children with cancer represent 7.8% of all cancer cases registered in Palestine, adding that the rate of cancer in Palestine reached 83.8 new cases per 100,000 persons.

MOH said that, the International Childhood Cancer Day on Wednesday (15/2/2017) that 59.3% of cancer cases were reported among male children, and the rest were among females, the Palestinian Information Center (PIC) reported, Sunday (17/2).
Third of them are under the age of five

Dr. Jawad al-Bitar, Head of the Information Center at the Ministry of Health, said that 31.7% of the cancer cases in Palestine are among children under the age of five.

Leukemia is ranked first with a rate of 30.2% followed by brain and nervous system cancer with a rate of 18.5% of the total cancer cases registered in Palestine, he added.

The Ministry of Health pointed out that the lymphoma cancer comes in third with a rate of 7.4%. Multiple myeloma cancer comes in fourth by 5.8% followed by lymph nodes cancer with a rate of 4.2% of the total cancer cases registered by the children in Palestine.

These five types of cancer represent about two-thirds of the cancer cases recorded among children in Palestine, with a rate of 66.1%.

Different types of cancer were reported as well such as lymphoma cancer, Wilms tumor, intraocular melanoma, endocrine cancer, bone cancer and liver cancer in addition to rare cases of other types of cancer.

Al-Bitar pointed out that the mortality rate among children with cancer compared with all cancer cases in Palestine reached 3.8% while the rate of children who died because of cancer under the age of five reached 26.8%.

Brain Cancer

The Ministry of Health said that brain cancer is ranked as the first of cancers leading to death among Palestinian children with a rate of 43.9% of all cancer deaths among children in Palestine. Leukemia, meanwhile, is ranked the second with a rate of 26.8% in which these two types of cancer form 70.7% of cancer deaths among children in Palestine.

Huda al-Masri section, a beam of hope

Dr. Jawwad Awad, Minister of Health in the West Bank, said that Huda al-Masri section was opened in Al-Hussein Hospital in Beit Jala to stress the importance of cancer diagnosis and treatment with the world’s most advanced techniques in this field, which form a major glimmer of hope for the diagnosis and treatment of Palestinian children who have cancer.

Palestine Children Relief Association has opened the first department dedicated to children cancer patients in Palestine, and in 2013 it was formally opened by the Palestinian Authority. The section aims at providing the necessary and specialized care for children cancer patients from all over Palestine, where the medical staff work to save their lives and relieve them from their pain, Awad added.

Huda al-Masri section is considered to be the heart of Khaled Al-Hassan Cancer Treatment Center, adding that the medical staff is highly qualified which will gain for Khaled Al-Hassan center huge success.

Pediatric Oncology department in Gaza project

Awad searched with Dr. Steve Soesbe, Palestine Children Relief Association head, new ways to run pediatric oncology and hematology departments at Nasser pediatric hospital with a financial cost of 10 million dollars.

This project will help our children who suffer from tumors from the ages of one to 12, according to Dr. Awad.

An international day

February 15th marks the International Childhood Cancer Day, which aims at raising public awareness about childhood cancer, expressing support for children and teenagers with cancer and working to increase appreciation and understanding regarding the issue of challenges related to childhood cancer. Most importantly, this day aims at improving access to cancer treatment and medical care especially that around 80,000 children die every year because of cancer around the world.

A report recently released by the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) said that the children’s cancer percentage might be much higher than previously thought. The report is based on more than a hundred cancer registries in 68 countries from 2001 to 2010 in which it indicates that 300,000 juveniles under the age of 18 were diagnosed with cancer.

Furthermore, statistics for the World Health Organization indicate that 80% of children with cancer live in developing countries.(T/R04/P02)

Mi’raj Islamic News Agency (MINA)