Cancer in children is a small fraction of the global cancer burden but for children with the disease and their families it can be distressing. This is especially so in less-developed countries where childhood cancer is often detected too late for effective treatment and where appropriate treatment is too often not available or affordable.

Each year more than 160,000 children are diagnosed with cancer and it is estimated that 90,000 will eventually die of the disease. Although childhood cancers represent a small percentage of all cancers, most of them can be cured if prompt and essential treatment is accessible. However, 80% of children with cancer are in resource-constrained countries where access to information, early detection and effective treatment and care is difficult. More than one in two of these children diagnosed with cancer will die.

In 2005, the International Union Against Cancer (UICC) announced the first recipients of its then new programme, “My Child Matters” (MCM). The objective of the MCM initiative is to build local capacity to reduce inequities in childhood cancer survival in selected resource-constrained countries. The first year, 14 projects were accepted, which aimed to improve the early diagnosis, treatment, care and support of children with cancer in the developing world.  These projects were in Bangladesh, Egypt, Honduras, Morocco, Philippines, Senegal, Tanzania, Ukraine, Venezuela and Vietnam.

Those first programmes were launched in 2006 on World Cancer Day, in partnership with sanofi-aventis. The MCM awareness and media campaign aimed to raise global awareness amongst health professionals, communities, and health decision-makers, about the gap in survival rates between children with cancer in high- and low-income settings. UICC set out to do this with a campaign toolkit which included fact sheets, a poster and a state of the art report.

In 2007, Bolivia, Indonesia, Kenya, Mali, Peru and Romania were granted funds for MCM projects and in 2008, Burkina Faso, Colombia, Côte d’Ivoire; Pakistan and Paraguay were added to the list of countries. With these additions it makes a total of 33 projects in 21 different countries.

TIMELINE

• In 2004, the International Union Against Cancer (UICC) and sanofi-aventis embarked on a ground-breaking partnership in the fight against childhood cancers under the banner "My child matters". The objective is to fight childhood cancer in countries where paediatric oncology is still an underdeveloped field.
• In 2005, 14 projects were selected by the Advisory Steering Committee in 10 MCM pilot countries: Bangladesh, Egypt, Honduras, Morocco, Philippines, Senegal, Tanzania, Ukraine, Venezuela and Vietnam.
• In 2006, 10 projects were selected to join the My child matters initiative in Bolivia, Indonesia, Kenya, Mali, Peru and Romania.
• In 2008, MCM is launched further projects in Burkina Faso, Colombia, Côte d’Ivoire, Pakistan and Paraguay.