World Child Cancer

  Speaker Paul Hammersley on World Child Cancer.

            Paul is one of thirty volunteer speakers on World Child Cancer and with other speakers is raising the awareness of Child Cancer especially in poorer undeveloped Countries.

            100,000 children are dying unnecessarily each year which, if in the UK they could be cured. 80% of children with Cancer are in developing countries but the survival rate in underdeveloped countries is only 10% and more children die with Cancer than with H.I.V.

            Cancer because of its high awareness of the populace and its giving, only receives 2% of government financial help and as part of this awareness, the

           World Child Cancer team of volunteers was formed and by a personal loss of a child instigated the father of that child to set up this charity and his vision was to see a global world where the imbalance was addressed.

          Funding is greatly affected in some countries by internal conflicts and by children dying from other diseases and because of the shortages of strong medical leaders.

         The charity agrees a 5 year commitment with a teaching hospital and part of this development is the use of a microscope which can send back pictures to a hospital in Stafford

         Unfortunately when cancers are found, many children arrive too late at the hospitals.

    In many underdeveloped countries, pain relief for the children is affected by local community beliefs which are wrongly held and affect diagnosis and recovery.

W.W.C. will set up lobbying in these countries and for every 1 spent then 2 of help will be delivered and survival rates for some cancers have been raised by 50%.

    At present an appeal partner for W.W.C is the Financial Times.

          Keith Chesters