We are working with the Hospital Universitario to increase access to child cancer treatment for children from the poorest families.

The Hospital Universitario has an established paediatric oncology department which diagnoses around 50 new patients every year. The Hospital is regarded as the best tertiary healthcare centre in the northern state of Neuvo León.

Major Challenges

• Children from the poorest families (around 40% of Mexicans) have very little access to specialist child cancer treatment because they are unable to afford the cost of tests, drugs and treatment.
• Those that start treatment often fail to complete the full course of treatment because of the financial and practical pressures on low income families of long stays in hospital and frequent hospital visits as out-patients.
• The hospital has a lack of skilled child cancer nurses.
• Locally appropriate treatment protocols have not been adequately developed.
• Infection control measures are leading to unnecessary complications and even deaths.

Project Objectives

• To increase access to high quality paediatric oncology treatment for low income children.
• To establish Hospital Universitario as a centre of excellence in paediatric oncology with support from the twinning partner, the Cook Children’s Medical Centre in the US.
• To develop effective, measurable and sustainable treatment solutions.

What is World Child Cancer doing to help?

• We have developed a twinning partnership between the Hospital Universitario in Monterrey and the Cook Children’s Medical Centre in the US. Treatment protocols will be developed, ideas shared and cases discussed through regular visits, teleconferences and email consultations.
• We will fund an education programme for nurses and other healthcare workers. The programme will include strengthening infection control measures and improving communication between nurses and the parents of patients.
• We will fund new staff posts including a data manager and a Programme Director to lead the twinning programme.
• We are supporting the development and work to two parent support groups – AMANC and La Alianza Anticancer Infantil – which will provide vital emotional, practical and financial support for the families of children undergoing child cancer treatment at the Hospital Universitario.
• We will provide advice and guidance in the development of the local fundraising skills of the parent support groups to help develop long-term sustainability.

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

• Mexico is a middle income country with a per capital income of US $8,890 (Gross National Income (GNI), Atlas method, World Bank data 2010)
• Mexico has a population of 106 million people.  There is a vast disparity in the distribution of income with 40% of Mexicans living below the poverty line
• Every year 4,500 to 5,000 children are diagnosed with cancer
• The most common childhood cancer is acute lymphoblastic leukaemia and the typical survival rate is below 20% 
• The Hospital Universitario in Monterrey, in north-east Mexico, is a publicly funded hospital.  It serves a catchment area of 6 million people  

Monterrey, Mexico

Project Centre: Hospital Universitario, Monterrey
Project leader: Dr Laura Nely Rodriquez-Romo, Dr Oscar Gonzalez Llano
Twinning Centres: Cook Children’s Medical Centre, Forth Worth, Texas, USA
Local Support Group: AMANC and La Alianza Anticancer Infantil
Start Date: October 2009
Length of Project: 5 years
Funding From World Child Cancer: £150,000 five years