National campaign for early diagnosis in childhood cancer

In Morocco, the 3 units of paediatric haemato-oncology of Casablanca and Rabat, that exist currently, receive about 700 new patients each year, out of the 1000 estimated by the Cancer Registry of Casablanca. The majority of these children arrive at a late stage of the disease, necessitating a more aggressive treatment that is more toxic and costly, and an extended hospitalization. This overloads the limited staff members available, and results in unsatisfactory outcomes.

Main Objectives of the Project

• Increase the number of children diagnosed at and early stage of their cancer in order to improve the survival rates
• Inform and increase the awareness of the population on childhood cancer
• Educate families on their role achieving an early diagnosis 
• Train the local doctors in detection and early diagnosis

Benefits of the Project

• An awareness campaign for the general public was made by the Lalla Salma Association Fight Against the Cancer:cancer is curable if it is diagnosed early, let's be aware!"
• Result: the word cancer is no longer a taboo; a quality study after the campaign of the ALSC shows a positive change in the perceptions and knowledge
• More than 6000 doctors have benefitted so far from training in early diagnosis of childhood cancer: Seminars, local days, post and practical manual
• Result: the local doctors seem more capable and the new patients are referred in a better general condition. Nevertheless, the improvement in stage at diagnosis statistic is not yet confirmed

Location