To boost lagging survival rates, the World Health Organization inaugurated a new platform on Tuesday that offers thousands of children in low- and middle-income nations free cancer medications.
As part of the project’s pilot phase, the WHO announced that the first medications were being sent to Mongolia and Uzbekistan, with more shipments scheduled for Ecuador, Jordan, Nepal, and Zambia.
This year, at least 30 facilities in those six countries are expected to treat almost 5,000 children with cancer.
“Countries in the pilot phase will receive an uninterrupted supply of quality-assured childhood cancer medicines at no cost,” the United Nations health agency said in a statement.
“For too long, children with cancer have lacked access to life-saving medicines,” WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus stated.
The platform, which aims to reach 50 nations in the next five to seven years and provide medicines for almost 120,000 children, has extended invitations to six more countries.
According to the WHO, an estimated 400,000 children worldwide are diagnosed with cancer each year, the majority of whom reside in areas with poor resources.
According to the WHO, the platform is trying to increase its long-term sustainability and the cost-free offering will persist after the test period.
The platform’s establishment strategy was initially revealed in December 2021.
The WHO and St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital in Memphis, Tennessee, in the United States, collaborate on it.
According to the WHO, the non-profit pediatric treatment and research organization has pledged $200 million to its debut.