By Abigail Philip David
The World Health Organization (WHO) has unveiled a new platform to provide cost-free cancer medicines to thousands of children in low- and middle-income countries, aiming to improve survival rates.
As part of the pilot phase, the first shipments have been delivered to Mongolia and Uzbekistan, with additional deliveries planned for Ecuador, Jordan, Nepal, and Zambia. This initiative is expected to benefit approximately 5,000 children this year across at least 30 hospitals in these six countries.
“Countries in the pilot phase will receive an uninterrupted supply of quality-assured childhood cancer medicines at no cost,” WHO stated.
Currently, childhood cancer survival rates in low- and middle-income nations are often below 30%, compared to about 80% in high-income countries. WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus emphasized the urgent need for equitable access to life-saving treatments, saying, “For too long, children with cancer have lacked access to essential medicines.”
The initiative plans to expand to 50 countries within the next five to seven years, ultimately providing cancer treatment for around 120,000 children. WHO estimates that 400,000 children worldwide develop cancer annually, with the majority in resource-limited settings, where 70% of cases result in death due to inadequate treatment, disruptions, or low-quality medicines.
The platform, first announced in December 2021, is a collaboration between WHO and St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital in Memphis, Tennessee. The hospital has committed $200 million to fund the initiative, ensuring free medicine provision continues beyond the pilot phase while working on long-term sustainability.
