A call to action: strengthening services to improve childhood cancer survival in Latin America and the Caribbean

Abstract

[EXTRAIT]. Since its launch the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) is implementing GICC in the Region of the Americas which began with a comprehensive situational analysis and a series of country-specific childhood cancer profiles. To date, 18 PAHO Member States have commit- ted to implementing the GICC, using the CureAll framework. This framework focuses on strengthening health systems through four pillars: Centers of Excellence (C), Universal Coverage (U), Treatment Regimens (R), and Evaluation and Monitoring systems (E); and through the promotion of three key facilitators: Advocacy (A), Financing (L), and Governance (L). GICC implementation in LAC involves a collaborative and multifaceted strategy, engaging governments, non-governmental organizations, healthcare professionals, and civil society. This special supplement of the Pan American Journal of Public Health highlights some of the significant advances in the Region such as reduced rates of treatment abandonment in Peru; improvements in early detection referral programs in Andean countries, the Dominican Republic, and Panama; and progress made in legislation for pediatric cancer in Argentina, Brazil, and Peru. In addition, the establishment of the WHO/ St Jude Global Platform for Access to Childhood Cancer Medicines in Ecuador, the pioneering country for this initiative in LAC, has resulted from collaborative work to address an unmet need in essential medicines and diagnostics and improve care standards for children and adolescents affected by cancer.