We are working with Davao Medical Centre to increase survival rates of children with cancer by reducing abandonment of treatment and reducing the number of children diagnosed at an advanced stage.

Davao Medical Centres diagnoses around 100 new cases of childhood cancer every year. However, it is suspected that many more cases remain undiagnosed in such a large, rural catchment area. Despite having well trained staff Davao Medical Centre has a survival rate of children with cancer of under 20%.

Major Challenges

• Many children have limited or no access to the facilities at Davao Medical Centre because of the practical and financial difficulties of travelling long distances. Almost 80% of childhood cancer patients live outside Davao City, often 100’s of kilometres from the hospital.

• Late diagnosis is a major problem with parents and local doctors unaware of the early signs of childhood cancer.
• Around 80% of children fail to complete the full course of treatment. It can be assumed that those who abandon treatment eventually die since cancer is ultimately fatal if not treated.
• Lack of co-ordinated emotional, practical and financial support for the families of children with cancer contributes to the high level of abandonment of treatment.
• The Philippines has no national model for the treatment and care of children with cancer.

Project Objectives

• To increase survival rates of children with cancer at Davao Medical Centre to around 60% within five years by reducing abandonment of treatment and improving diagnosis.
• To establish Davao Medical Centre as a regional centre of excellence in paediatric oncology.
• To develop a model for cancer treatment and care for children in other areas of the Philippines.
• To develop local fundraising skills to foster long-term sustainability.

What is World Child Cancer doing to help?

• We have developed a twinning partnership between Davao Medical Centre and two centres of excellence in paediatric oncology – St Jude Children’s Research Hospital in the US and University Hospital in Singapore. The twinning partnership will provide mentoring to the project leader, Dr Mae Dolendo, and guidance in implementing the five year strategic plan.
• We are funding the establishment of two satellite paediatric oncology centres around the island of Mindanao to encourage earlier diagnosis and provide basic treatment. We will fund staff and equipment costs at these centres along with improvements to the management of patient data to aid follow up treatment.
• We are funding an advertising campaign to promote awareness of the early signs of child cancer by parents and primary healthcare workers.
• We are supporting the develop of the local parent support group – the Kythe Foundation – to provide improved emotional, practical and financial support for the families of children with cancer. Better support has been shown to significantly reduce rates of abandonment of treatment.
• We will provide advice and guidance in the development of local fundraising skills to develop long-term sustainability.

For a profile of the project leader, Dr Mae Dolendo, please click here.

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

• The Philippines is a low-middle income country with a per capita income of US $2,060 (Gross National Income (GNI), Atlas method, World Bank data 2010)
• The country is an archipelago of 7,100 islands with a population of approximately 93 million people 
• Every year 3,000 to 3,500 children are diagnosed with cancer often at an advanced stage 
• The most common childhood cancer is acute lymphoblastic leukaemia and the typical survival rate is less than 20% 
• Davao Medical Centre is the only tertiary public hospital on Mindanao, the second largest island in the far south of the Philippines, serving a population of 25 million people  

Davao, Mindanao

Project Centre: Davao Medical Centre, Davao, Mindanao
Project leader: Dr Mae Dolendo
Twinning Centres: University Hospital, Singapore St Jude Children’s Research Hospital, Memphis, US
Local Support Group: The Kythe Foundation
Start Date: October 2009
Length of Project: Five years
Funding From World Child Cancer: £180,000 over five years