THE World Health Organization (WHO) has launched a new platform to provide cost-free cancer medicines for children in low and middle-income countries (LMICs) to bridge the survival gap between high and low-income nations.
The initiative, which officially began on February 11, targets six countries – Mongolia, Uzbekistan, Ecuador, Jordan, Nepal, and Zambia – at the initial stage with plans to expand to 50 countries over the next seven years.
The platform will deliver life-saving medications to approximately 5,000 children in 2025, addressing a critical gap in pediatric cancer treatment, according to a report by WHO.
The 2025 WHO’s report on the Global Platform for Access to Childhood Cancer Medicines, shows the disparities between high and low-income nations. While childhood cancer survival rates in high-income countries exceed 80 per cent, the rates in LMICs remain below 30 per cent.
WHO data highlights that up to 70 per cent of children with cancer in LMICs die due to systemic barriers such as inadequate diagnosis, limited treatment facilities, and financial constraints.
This difference is largely attributed to a lack of access to essential medications, disruptions in treatment, and the prevalence of substandard drugs in poorly regulated markets.
It further noted that the organisation reviewed 42 countries and found that only one in eight low-income nations finances outpatient chemotherapy for children, with even fewer covering essential antineoplastic medicines.
It added that in middle-income countries, fewer than 60 per cent provide funding for critical treatment.
WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus described the initiative as a crucial step in bridging the access gap for childhood cancer treatment.
“For too long, children with cancer have lacked access to life-saving medicines,” WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said in a statement by St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, on Tuesday, February 11.
The global cancer medicine platform
The newly launched platform, developed in partnership with St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, the United Nations Children Fund (UNICEF), and the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO), seeks to rectify these inequalities by ensuring the continuous supply of safe, high-quality cancer medicines.
According to WHO, St. Jude has committed $200 million to the project, which aims to reach 120,000 children worldwide by 2030.
“A child’s chances of surviving cancer are largely determined by where they are born, making this one of the starkest disparities in global healthcare,” said the MD, president and CEO of St. Jude, James R. Downing.
“St. Jude was founded on Danny Thomas’ dream that no child should die in the dawn of life. By developing this platform, we believe this dream can someday be achieved for children stricken by cancer, irrespective of where they live.
“The platform brings together governments, the pharmaceutical industry and non-governmental organisations in a unique collaborative model focused on creating solutions for children with cancer. The co-design approach addresses the broader needs of national stakeholders, with a focus on capacity building and long-term sustainability.
The platform provides comprehensive end-to-end support, from consolidating global demand to shaping the market, assisting countries with medicine selection and developing treatment standards. It represents a transformative model for the broader global health community working together to tackle health challenges, in particular for children and non-communicable diseases,” Downing added.
Usman Mustapha is a solution journalist with International Centre for Investigative Reporting. You can easily reach him via: umustapha@icirnigeria.com. He tweets @UsmanMustapha_M