and Daniela Cristina Stefan2
(1)
Université Mohammed VI des Sciences de la Santé Cheikh Khalifa Hospital, Casablanca, Morocco
(2)
South African Medical Research Council, Cape Town, South Africa
Keywords
TelemedicineNetworkInternationalEducationInformation and communication technologies (ICTs)TwinningInternational support is vital in planning further activities in pediatric oncology in Africa.
As the main causes of morbidity and mortality of the Sub-Saharan continent remain related to infection and malnutrition, there is a transition and a focus on the improvement of preventive measures globally. The burden of cancer is slowly more recognized in the world and a range of interventions is planned for the future.
The lack of resources and lack of local childhood cancer awareness impact negatively on the population.
Cancer care is complex and might appear expensive and unaffordable as it needs constant expertise, organization, medication and supplies that are most of the time all interconnected to the social aspects and wealth of the country.
National cancer plans and implementation of the plans in the limit of a realistic budget is one of the first steps in moving forward.
International support and network contribute to the improvement of care of children with cancer through shared expertise and protocols, education and training , collaboration based on research, improvement of pathology services and radiology amongst many other components.
It is interesting to note that developing pediatric oncology activity in any hospital has a positive impact on general care in the hospital. Developing multidisciplinary approach, infection control, improvement in pathology diagnosis and radiology area activities with positive impact on many other disciples and care for patients.
There are many requirements for success of a collaboration and for establishing an efficient network. We are mentioning only a few in the following paragraphs.
Ethical aspects: Ethics is an important component in developing any program. It is essential to ensure that all actions have benefits for patient. Collaboration based on research that would have no impact on care for children in Africa should not be considered.
Local leadership: Local commitment is vital and each program should have a champion. The local caregivers need to be fully involved, understand the project and the benefits and have the capacity to mobilize stakeholders for the advocacy of the children.
Long-term commitment: The program between two centers should be considered for several years. Only continuous support may have significant impact. In Africa, political instability has a major negative impact on sustainability. Any program should take this into account and also address the difficulty to maintain good experts in the program.
Comprehensive approach: In order to be successful, any support program should include all caregivers who need to be regularly involved and evaluated.
Education: Education is the key tool to develop competences in various disciplines. Education is addressed to the physicians, but also nurses (Fig. 33.1), pathologists, surgeons and all other members of the team (dieticians, social workers, occupational therapists, pharmacists, etc) involved in the care of children with cancer . Education includes amongst others professional training and visit of experts.
Fig. 33.1
Nurse pediatric oncology intensive course
Evaluation: The program should be evaluated on a regular basis. Specific indicators should be identified at the beginning of the activities and provide time allocated to address the challenges.
Clinical research: This is an important component of infrastructure of any pediatric oncology program. Any clinical research program should address local issues. Approaches addressing late presentation, malnutrition, abandonment of treatment programs, less intensive chemotherapy regimen are those of best impact. Sharing and reviewing data are very efficient in making progress in care.
Twinning : The twinning concept (or paring/matching a pediatric oncology unit in developing country with a unit in a developed country) has proved to be very effective in several areas. Twinning can also include two units from Africa where the most developed unit offers support to another one (e.g. twinning between the pediatric oncology at Tygerberg Hospital in South Africa with the unit in Windhoek, Namibia)
Stay updated, free articles. Join our Telegram channel
Full access? Get Clinical Tree
