Guadalajara, Jalisco, June 26, 2024. The Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) and St. Jude Children's Research Hospital organized a regional meeting with health professionals, experts, and representatives from throughout Latin America and the Caribbean on June 19 and 20, 2024, in Mexico. The objective was to promote the implementation and monitoring of the CureAll framework in the participating countries of the Global Childhood Cancer Initiative in Latin America and the Caribbean.
The CureAll initiative was launched by the World Health Organization (WHO) in September 2018 and seeks to achieve, by 2030, a survival rate of at least 60% for children and adolescents with cancer worldwide and reduce the associated suffering. to this disease.
Professionals from a wide range of countries, including Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, El Salvador, Haiti, Honduras, Mexico, Panama, Peru, Dominican Republic and Venezuela, participated in the meeting. This diverse representation included officials from the ministries of health and PAHO, leading specialists and scientists in pediatric oncology, and members of civil society associations and international organizations, all united in their support for the global initiative.
Ruy López Ridaura, Mexico's Undersecretary of Prevention and Health Promotion, stressed the importance of improving the quality of medical care and reported on the complexity of implementing public policies for childhood cancer.
Participants shared experiences and positive results and also encouraged discussion on key indicators for evaluating the initiative and the CureAll framework at the regional level. Validating these indicators is essential to measuring the impact of interventions and ensuring the quality of care throughout the region. Likewise, the importance of multicenter cooperative networks and groups was highlighted to improve the quality of care for children and families.
The meeting, held within the framework of the annual congress of the Latin American Society of Pediatric Oncology (SLAOP) and the Mexican Association of Pediatric Onco-Hematology (AMOHP), served as a platform for promoting regional and international collaboration. It provided a valuable opportunity to establish future goals and strategies and guide these efforts with the principles of the CureAll framework. The aim is to improve the survival and quality of life of girls, boys, and adolescents affected by these diseases.
