Reports about the long-term outcome of treatment in children in Africa are scarce. Health personnel who are involved in the management of children with cancer have to invest extra energy to assess and evaluate the parents and home environment of patients if meaningful long-term followup is to be achieved. All patients should be entered in a hospital or population-based registry. Health care policymakers are influenced by statistics of incidence and the success of treatment when they allocate funding. It is our responsibility to advocate the cause of children with cancer by generating and publicising such data.
Nothing is as convincing as the demonstration that a child with cancer has been cured.
The global problem of childhood cancer . Cockcroft RL, Cohn R, de Jager LC, et al. Proceedings of the first continental meeting of the International Society of Paediatric Oncology in Africa , 6-9 April 1994. Outcome of children treated for cancer in the Republic of Namibia. Cancer registration in developing countries.