‘Children with paediatric cancers have a 20% survival rate’

BY METHEMBE SIBANDA
CHILDREN with prevalent paediatric cancers in Zimbabwe are said to have a 20% survival rate due to poverty, and lack of knowledge on the part of parents and healthcare workers on the malignant disease.

Speaking during the International Childhood Cancer Day, KIDZCAN executive director Daniel Mckenzie said survival rates of cancer in the country were among the worst as parents sought cheaper alternative treatments first.

The most common cancers in Zimbabwe include retinoblastoma, which is cancer of the eyes, leukaemia, solid tumours, cancer of the bone, brain and kidney cancer.

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