We are working with the Queen Elizabeth Central Hospital in Blantyre to increase survival rates of relatively treatable cancers such as Burkitts lymphoma and Wilms tumour.

We are working with the Queen Elizabeth Central Hospital in Blantyre to increase survival rates of easily treatable cancers such as Burkitts lymphoma and Wilms tumour.

The hospital diagnoses around 160 new cases of childhood cancer a year many of which are relatively simple and inexpensive to treat including Burkitts lymphoma, a cancer of the lymph system which creates rapid swelling in the abdomen and/or neck. It is the most common childhood cancer in sub-Saharan Africa. Despite the lack of radiotherapy and sophisticated scanning machines, over 50% of these children can be saved with inexpensive chemotherapy drugs.

The Story of Tisungeni >

Major Challenges:

• Too few trained doctors and nurses with specialist paediatric oncology skills.
• Lack of funding for chemotherapy and palliative care drugs.
• Late diagnosis of many child cancers due to lack of awareness of the early signs of the disease by primary healthcare workers and parents.
• Poor follow-up care due to poor management of data.
• High rate of abandonment of treatment due to the practical and financial pressures of a long stay in hospital for parents and little emotional support for parents.
• Poverty resulting in many children diagnosed with malnutrition and parents often unable to afford travel to and from hospital.

“Children with cancer in developing countries have not received much attention or support. Other challenges such as HIV/AIDS or tuberculosis have overwhelmed health services.   However, many children with cancer can be cured. It costs only £40 to provide the drugs to save a child with Burkitts lymphoma in Malawi.A little money really does go a long way.”
Professor Elizabeth Molyneux, Project Leader

Project Objectives

• To improve survival rates of children with easily treatable cancers to around 50% – this equates to around 50 children a year.
  • By developing locally appropriate treatment protocols which are financially viable for the hospital and practical for families.
  • Reducing the number of children who abandon treatment
  • Encouraging earlier diagnosis of child cancer
• To create a centre of excellence for paediatric oncology at the Queen Elizabeth Central Hospital.
• To provide effective palliative care for children with incurable cancers.

What is World Child Cancer doing to help?

• We have developed the twinning partnership between QECH and Emma Children’s Hospital in The Netherlands and the Royal Victoria Infirmary in the UK and are funding the ongoing medical training programme.
• We are providing funding for drugs, extra nursing and administrative staff and improvements to facilities including the creation of an isolation unit for children at risk of infection.
• We are funding the development of a parent support group – essential in reducing the rate of abandonment of treatment by providing better emotional and practical support. Our parent/carer advocate trustees are providing advice and guidance in the establishment and development of the group.
• We are funding an awareness campaign to promote knowledge of the early signs of childhood cancer amongst parents and primary healthcare workers
• Our medical trustee, Professor Eden, is providing ongoing mentoring for the project leader.

If you are a healthcare professional with specialist paediatric oncology expertise and interested in getting involved in one of our projects please click here to contact us.

Key Facts

• Malawi is one of the poorest countries in the world with a per capita income of US $290 in 2008 (compared to US $45,390 in the UK)  (Gross National Income (GNI), Atlas method, World Bank data 2008)
• Malawi has a population of around 14 million.  
• Nearly half of Malawian’s struggle to live on less than $1 a day.  
• The Queen Elizabeth Central Hospital is the main teaching hospital in Malawi providing tertiary healthcare for adults and children from all over the country.  It is funded by the Malawian government and all treatment is provided free of charge.
• Burkitts lymphoma is the most common childhood cancer in Malawi.  

Blantyre, Southern Malawi

Project Centre: Queen Elizabeth Central Hospital/College of Medicine (QECH) Blantyre, southern Malawi
Project leader: Professor Elizabeth Molyneux OBE
Twinning Centres: Emma Children’s Hospital/AMC University, Amsterdam, The Netherlands and Royal Victoria Infirmary, Newcastle, United Kingdom
Start Date: October 2008
Length of Project: Five years
Funding From World Child Cancer: £160,000 over five years