"WHO has issued a list of medicines for cancer but not all countries have access to them."Yogyakarta (ANTARA News) - Some 400 representatives of 35 countries are taking part in the 7th congress of Society of Pediatric Oncology (SIOP) Asia here from Sunday to Tuesday.
"The participants come not only from Asian countries but also from the rest of the world, such as Germany, the United States and Australia. So this is an international meeting," Sutaryo, head of the event`s organizing committee, said here on Sunday.
He said 100 of the 400 participants were from foreign countries.
The Indonesian participants were mostly child health experts, parents of child cancer sufferers, and successfully cured cancer patients, he said.
The congress which was held once every 1.5 years focused on developing sciences on cancer in children, he said.
SIOP President Gabriele Calaminus MD said the greatest challenge to prevent cancer in children was conducting early detection.
"Early detection is not merely done by parents but also requires support from nearby community. The nearby community also plays an important role," she said.
Therefore, efforts must be made to disseminate information on cancer including early symptoms to be able to take proper steps, she said.
In addition, access to medicines for cancer patients needed to be improved because a number of countries had no good access to cancer treatment, she said.
"WHO has issued a list of medicines for cancer but not all countries have access to them," she said.
According to SIOP data, an estimated 175,000 children worldwide are diagnosed for cancer every year and approximately 90,000 of them die of the disease.
(Uu.S012)
Editor: Priyambodo RH
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