Abstract
Background Childhood cancer is the sixth leading cause of
global cancer burden. Indeed, 90% of childhood cancer cases occur in
low-middle-income countries (LMICs), where mortality can be 4-5 times
higher than in high income settings. In addition, many LMICs lack data
on pediatric oncology for policy development and resource
prioritization. In this paper, we describe the state of pediatric cancer
care and treatment in Cameroon. Procedure We conducted
cross-sectional survey in July 2020, which enabled us to collect data
from two hospitals providing pediatric oncology services in Cameroon. We
collected data on service availability, human resource capacity,
frequent cancer types, treatment dropout, primary reasons for drop out,
disclosure of status, and management of oncology data. Result
The surveyed hospitals offered both pediatric chemotherapy and
palliative care services; however, none offered nuclear medicine or
radiotherapy services. In terms of workforce, human resources were
grossly lacking in both hospitals. The available ones include one
pediatric hemato-oncologist, one medical oncologist, one resident
pediatric oncologist, one pediatric surgeon, and 14 oncology nurses and
about 40% (18/45) of have received specialty training in oncology. The
commonest childhood cancer managed in these facilities, was Burkitt
lymphoma, (39, 23%). About 30% of children on chemotherapy abandoned
their treatment, primarily due to lack of funds to continue with
treatment sessions. In both settings, the capacity to diagnose cancer
and provide counselling was limited. In addition, the tools to capture
and transmit data varied by facility, resulting to different data set
being generated. Furthermore, both facilities, had no schedule and
timelines for data reporting. Conclusions Our results suggest
that several factors negatively impact proper cancer care and treatment
of pediatric Cancers in Cameroon. These include, inadequate human
resource capacity, a high proportion of dropouts from chemotherapy due
to high cost, and lack of harmonized data collection and reporting tools
and systems. Systematically addressing these factors could contribute to
improving treatment outcomes for pediatric cancer patients in Cameroon.