Fighting Childhood Cancer

A child receives chemotherapy medicine during a recent treatment at the Ocean Road Cancer Institute (ORCI) in Tanzania. IMA and ORCI have treated more than 3800 children for Burkitt's Lymphoma since 2000.

By Christopher Glass/IMA

Cancer is a leading cause of death in the U.S. and around the world. The World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that 84 million people will die of cancer between 2005 and 2015 without intervention.

This year on World Cancer Day the Union for International Cancer Control and its partner organizations ran campaigns all over the world to raise awareness for a disease that causes millions of deaths every year, many of which could have been prevented.

IMA World Health proudly supported World Cancer Day and is concerned about the growing number of cancer deaths around the world.

In fact, we have a decade long history of fighting cancer through our Burkitt’s Lymphoma (BL) Program in Tanzania with wonderful results.  BL is a cancer primarily affecting children living in malaria endemic areas and is fatal if not promptly and appropriately treated.

IMA has helped more than 3,800 children through 39 public and faith-based facilities across the country. Many children are cured of their cancer and are able to lead a normal childhood.

Mwanawetu Saidi’s story is just one of many success stories.

Her pain began with a toothache and stomach cramps. Her worried parents took the ten-year-old girl to a local clinic for treatment near their home in Tanzania. Staff at the clinic did not recognize the symptoms of the childhood cancer, Burkitt’s Lymphoma, which strikes hundreds of children in Tanzania each year. BL can cause swelling of the jaw, eyes, face, and abdomen and is very aggressive cancer.

One month after the onset of her pain, large tumors had grown in Mwanawetu’s mouth, jaw and cheek.

“We had never seen such a condi­tion in our village and so we were scared and worried that we would lose her,” said Mwanawe­tu’s mother.

Finally, Mwanawetu was referred to Ocean Road Cancer Institute (ORCI) in Tanzania. After the 12-week cycle of chemo­therapy, her tumor had disappeared.

You can help cure this childhood cancer!

To help a child like Mwanawetu defeat Burkitt’s Lymphoma choose ‘childhood cancer’ from the designation box on our Provide a Gift page. 

Will you join us?