The Cameroon Baptist Convention Health Board manages a number of hospitals in the Northwest and Southwest provinces of Cameroon, providing healthcare for the rural population of subsistence farmers and their families. Prof Peter Hesseling and his team have been visiting Cameroon for more than 10 years and have achieved success in raising survival rates for Burkitt lymphoma from zero to 60% in this time. Approximately 1,000 children are expected to develop cancer each year in Cameroon.

Increasing demand for paediatric oncology services without adequate facilities
Easily treatable childhood cancers being diagnosed more regularly as awareness improves but there is a lack of locally appropriate protocols for most tumours
Lack of trained healthcare professionals to diagnose and treat cancer
Lack of funding for diagnostic tests and medicines
Poor accessibility for many children due to distance to the hospitals and poor road infrastructure
Lack of support for families facing long hospital stays including accommodation, food and income generation
Low awareness of cancer amongst communities and frontline health workers
Many families forced to abandon treatment due to long stays from home and catastrophic expenditure

Increase access to curative and palliative treatments for vulnerable children
Develop affordable and effective treatment protocols for easily treatable malignancies
Equip healthcare professionals with the knowledge and skills to provide quality care
Develop the infrastructure needed to provide childhood cancer treatment
Improve the support for families provided at the hospitals and at home

Specialist paediatric oncology training for lead doctor in South Africa, returning to Cameroon mid-2017
470 patients newly diagnosed with cancer since 2012 in the 3 hospitals being supported through this programme
In 2016 the number of newly diagnosed patients was 96, and the number of children served through the palliative care programme was 112
Protocols adapted for use in treating Wilms’ tumour, retinoblastoma and Kaposi Sarcoma
Active parent support groups with ongoing farming initiatives to generate income
Family support home built at Mbingo hospital to provide accommodation for patients and families
Increasing survival rates for easily treatable malignancies, and falling abandonment rates due to holistic family support