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Pediatric Oncology in the Arab World

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Handbook of Healthcare in the Arab World

Abstract

The discipline of pediatric oncology has shortcomings that are similar to other elements of health care in the Arab world. There are relatively few children with cancer in the Arab world. It is estimated that there are more than 14,000 children below the age of 15 that are diagnosed with cancer every year in Arab countries. These patients require relatively more resources to be treated but they have an improved chance of cure in most of the cases. There are state-of-the-art centers that were launched in different Arab countries. The best examples are those that mobilized public support in the form of public awareness, volunteering, and generous financial donations and that established a clear mission and organized leadership, where donors expect transparency and equality in care. On the other hand, with the current instability affecting many Arab nations, there is a deterioration in the care of patients with cancer and the reemergence of communicable diseases as major causes of death in children. The priority in the Arab world should be having better cancer registries which provide accurate information, especially when linked with national survival records, and to secure sustainable funding for essential drugs and facilities, as well as for training and retaining health workers.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Pediatrics, King Hussein Cancer Center, Al-Jubeiha, Jordan

    Iyad Sultan

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  1. Iyad Sultan
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Correspondence to Iyad Sultan .

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  1. Faculty of Medicine, Department of Anesthesiology Pharmacology and Therapeutics, The University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, Canada

    Ismail Laher

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Sultan, I. (2021). Pediatric Oncology in the Arab World. In: Laher, I. (eds) Handbook of Healthcare in the Arab World. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-36811-1_17

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