15 February — International Childhood Cancer Day
Today we think in gold and wear gold, like our golden heroes and their families who are going through the fire, those who overcame the horror and the pain, and those who were consumed by it.
On this day, organisations, families, doctors and researchers work to draw society’s attention to this demon — a thief of childhood and of life.
A long way has been travelled in medicine, and there is still a long way to go. Access to quality treatment, modern therapies, clinical trials and quality follow-up care for survivors is possible only in one small part of the world — the smaller one. Although Bulgaria is in Europe and is a member of the European Union, the difference in the percentage of successfully cured children is 20%. 20% fewer children get their chance at life compared with the countries of Western Europe. Follow-up care for survivors, which would detect and deal with the late effects of the treatment and the illness, is still a dream; there is no registry…
Change can only happen if we all work together. It has to come from every single person who is engaged with the problem and responsible for it. Each of us, and all of us together, have the chance to change things for the better — for the children, for our tomorrow.
The 20th anniversary celebration of the day is under the motto #throughourhands, because change really is in our hands.
TODAY the international initiative is launched — a web-based Tree of Life. Visit https://iccd.care and leave your message and imprint. Because every child leaves an imprint…
Let us play a key role in improving the rate of successfully cured children and the standards of care for children with cancer.
TODAY and every day after. Together we can make the change happen.