Life is strange. A few years ago, I had not even heard of childhood cancer and today, I write about it to spread awareness after my family lived through its harshest reality. Having watched my beloved son lose his life to childhood brain cancer at a young age of three, I understand the importance of shining a light on this dreadful disease.
Each September, Childhood Cancer Awareness Month reminds us of the urgent need to confront one of the most devastating challenges families can face. According to World Health Organization, an estimated 400,000 children and adolescents aged 0-19 are diagnosed with cancer across the world every year. The most common types include leukemias, brain tumours, lymphomas, and solid tumours such as neuroblastoma and Wilms tumour. Outcomes vary drastically—while in high-income countries, more than 80% of children with cancer are cured, while in low- and middle-income countries, survival drops to less than 30%. For my family and for all affected families, these numbers are not abstract.
Behind every statistic is a child’s story, a family’s upheaval. Each diagnosis upends daily life as school days give way to hospital stays, carefree play is replaced by invasive surgeries, and futures become uncertain. Children endure therapies largely designed for adults, often leaving them with long-term side effects that affect growth, learning, and quality of life. And yet, despite this immense toll, pediatric cancer research receives only a fraction of overall cancer funding compared to adult cancers.
Awareness must go hand in hand with action. We need pediatric-specific research to develop safer, more effective treatments tailored to children’s needs. We also need pharmaceutical companies to prioritize the development of drugs for childhood cancers. Too often, research focuses on treatments that promise higher profits rather than addressing the urgent, unmet needs of children. We need stronger supports for families: medical, emotional, social, and financial, to help them shoulder the burden of care. Policymakers, researchers, big pharma, healthcare providers, and communities all have a role to play in closing these gaps.
Every day, six children in Canada are diagnosed with cancer but childhood cancer research receives only 7% of all cancer research funding. Canada is also the only G7 country without a proton radiation facility, a therapy known to cause fewer long-term side effects than conventional radiation. At present, Canadian children are sent to the US for proton radiation on a case-by-case basis. But for some children, like mine, time simply runs out.
As the nation of Terry Fox, we can do better. We must do better. So, this September, let us recommit to change. Share stories to amplify voices too often unheard. Support organizations funding pediatric cancer research and providing direct assistance to families. Every gesture, no matter how small, contributes to a louder, collective movement demanding better outcomes for children.
Neha Bhatnagar