Currently, minors who suffer from this type of illness must go through long and cumbersome procedures with their respective EPS, so much so that many parents ‘throw in the towel’.
It is not necessary for it to be February 15th for experts in childhood cancer to meet to discuss the issue, needs and decisions to be made. On Friday, July 26th, convened by Sanar, all representatives who in one way or another have to do with the issue of survival in the city and the department met in the Salón La Virginia of Expofuturo.
Panorama general
Dr. César Alberto Montaño was also present at the discussion. He is a pediatric hemato-oncologist and a very authoritative voice: “The cancer situation in the region in Pediatrics is a very difficult situation, because we have more and more children with cancer, not only because of the increase in the population, but also because the incidence of these diseases is increasing and so the concern of the Sanar Foundation is to be able to provide them with the best care.”
The doctor stressed that unfortunately there are aspects that are complicated in a country like Colombia. “The first of these aspects is early diagnosis. Many children come from very remote regions and arrive at a difficult time. The disease is allowed to progress and this will make treatment more difficult, lead to more complications and less chance of curing the child.”
“One of the main points of this process in which we are gathered here is to try to create mechanisms so that parents know more about these diseases and that doctors who provide primary care can diagnose them early and have a better diagnosis,” said Montaño.
Attention! It is not about repeating for the sake of repeating
Every so often, health care and educational institutions conduct campaigns to alert teachers and parents to changes or warning signs that children may show if a possible cancer appears.
In this regard, César Alberto Montaño explained that “There is a part that depends on the parents, from the moment the first symptom appears, until the moment they go to the doctor, it is the parents’ fault, but the moment they decide to go to the doctor, the delay between the first appointment until we manage to reach the diagnosis, that is the fault of the Health System and we are working on that with the San Jorge Hospital and the Risaralda Health Secretariat, trying to create an oncology route and we have already started to work in that direction, so that parents and children do not have obstacles to get from a town to the city, because sometimes the issue of authorizations is so difficult that it causes parents to give up and wait for the child to get better on their own.”
Some of the attendees at the discussion in the La Virginia Hall of Expofuturo.“The most common cancer in Pediatrics is leukemia and the most common symptom of this is anemia, the child looks pale, listless, sleepy, does not perform as well at school. This could also be a symptom of other things, but it is usual. On the other hand, there is the appearance of lymph nodes, nodules, masses, bone pain or persistent headaches that must be seen individually, because they begin to deviate from the normal, such as the lymph node that did not go down or extreme paleness,” said the hemato-oncologist.
Lina Maria Mora, manager of Sanar
“It is very important for us as the Sanar Pereira Foundation to promote these spaces for reflection. We have invited all the healthcare personnel that we support throughout the coffee-growing region. Today we wanted to bring some experiences from other cities, from the National Cancer Institute, from the Los Ángeles Hospital in Pasto, where they have a very successful experience in caring for children with cancer, to tell them how the approach and care is being carried out, and today here, among all of us, who are united by our love for children with cancer, we can improve their survival and care.”
Great news
Diego Fernando Rivas, representative of the San Jorge University Hospital: “We as a public institution are going to develop and build a Uacai (Childhood Cancer Care Unit). The hospital already has an area and has been treating children with so-called liquid cancer for a long time, because they are generally leukemia and blood disorders, but solid tumors will also be treated.”
The Uacai was not institutionally formed. Regarding the materialization of this Unit, Rivas added that “Organizing what the Hospital was already doing and concentrating it in a Unit that will provide care this year. We already have a coordinator who is the Program nurse, Dr. Montaño and all the Hospital infrastructure. We are only in the administrative management part, so to speak, because given the law, care in this Unit will not have barriers or authorizations of any kind.”
The official also reported that the Uacai’s rationale is that there is no barrier for any EPS, since it is dealing with childhood cancer, and that payments would be made directly to the Hospital from Adres.
Cipher
Sanar has 200 children in active treatment and monitoring in different private IPS.
2024-07-28 05:46:16