{"id":250062,"date":"2023-02-15T10:13:13","date_gmt":"2023-02-15T08:13:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/sa-commemorates-international-childhood-cancer-day\/"},"modified":"2023-02-15T10:13:13","modified_gmt":"2023-02-15T08:13:13","slug":"sa-commemorates-international-childhood-cancer-day","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/sa-commemorates-international-childhood-cancer-day\/","title":{"rendered":"SA commemorates International Childhood Cancer Day"},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/div>\n

South Africa is joining the global community to observe International Childhood Cancer Day to raise awareness and improve understanding of childhood cancer.<\/p>\n

International Childhood Cancer Day is observed annually across the world on February 15, with this year\u2019s campaign observed under the #ThroughTheirHands theme, which focuses on paying tribute to the families and caregivers, and the positive impact they have on the lives of children and adolescents living with cancer.<\/p>\n

According to the Department of Health, childhood cancer remains one of the leading causes of death in high-income countries among children under the age of 15.<\/p>\n

Although relatively rare, the department said the incidence rate has been increasing which may be due to awareness.<\/p>\n

Almost 400 000 children are diagnosed annually, of which South Africa accounts for almost 1 500 of this global number.<\/p>\n

\u201cMany children with cancer in low-and-middle-income countries are either not diagnosed on time or referred too late for curative care,\u201d the department explained, adding that one of the contributing factors include the lack of awareness and knowledge of the early warning signs.<\/p>\n

The most common types of childhood cancers include leukaemia, lymphoma, brain, kidney and eye tumours.<\/p>\n

The department working together with the South African Children\u2019s Cancer Study Group and CHOC Childhood Cancer Foundation South Africa has initiated a programme to disseminate information to empower the communities with knowledge about the early warning signs and the unique and complex challenges faced by children with cancer and their families.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey also endeavour to offer support to all children during their arduous journey.\u201d<\/p>\n

The World Health Organisation (WHO), governments, civil society organisations and healthcare workers are in partnership to meet the WHO Global Initiative for Childhood Cancer (GICC) goals of a 60% overall survival in children and adolescents with cancer in low-and middle-income countries by 2030.<\/p>\n

The community, parents and caregivers are urged to familiarise themselves with the St Siluan Early Warning Signs.<\/p>\n

St Siluan\u2019s Warning Signs of Childhood Cancer:<\/p>\n

S \u2013 Seek medical help early for ongoing symptoms.<\/p>\n

I \u2013 White spot in the eye, new squint, and sudden blindness or bulging eyeball.<\/p>\n

L \u2013 Lump on the stomach, pelvis, head, arms, legs, testicle or glands.<\/p>\n

U \u2013 Unexplained fever present for over two weeks, weight loss, fatigue, pale appearance, easy bruising and bleeding.<\/p>\n

A \u2013 Aching bones, joints, back and easy fractures.<\/p>\n

N \u2013 Neurological signs, a change in walking, balance or speech, regression, continuous headaches with\/without vomiting and an enlarged head. \u2013 SAnews.gov.za<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

South Africa is joining the global community to observe International Childhood Cancer Day to raise awareness and improve understanding of childhood cancer. International Childhood Cancer Day is observed annually across the world on February 15, with this year\u2019s campaign observed under the #ThroughTheirHands theme, which focuses on paying tribute to the families and caregivers, and […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":250063,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[1],"tags":[38678],"class_list":{"0":"post-250062","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-south-africa","8":"tag-sanews","9":"entry"},"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/sa-commemorates-international-childhood-cancer-day.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/250062","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=250062"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/250062\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/250063"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=250062"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=250062"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=250062"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}