The Alumni of the MasterCard Foundation Scholars Program at Camfed Ghana has donated an amount of GHS 10,000 to the Pediatric Oncology Department of the Korle-Bu Teaching Hospital.
This follows a report filed by Citi News on the expensiveness of treating Childhood cancers.
Childhood cancers differ from cancers for adults. The most common categories of Childhood cancers include leukaemia, brain cancers, lymphomas and solid tumours such as neuroblastoma and Wilms’ tumour.
According to the World Health Organization (WHO), cancer is a leading cause of death for children and adolescents around the world and about 300,000 of them aged from 0-19 years old are diagnosed with the condition each year.
The report by Citi News revealed that the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS), does not cover any of the treatment processes.
The mother of a child with Germ cells tumour told Citi News: “I do not have the money for the treatment process. How to feed my children and myself daily is even difficult. I sometimes depend on the doctors for help. The National Health Insurance Scheme does not cover any of the treatment processes. All it takes care of is the drip”.
Donating the amount to the department, the representative of the MasterCard Foundation Alumni, Miss Dora Ayesua Okae said: “In view of the celebration of the International Day of the Girl Child (IDGC), the alumni found it significant to relieve others of their plights, whilst fulfilling one of its major mandates of existence”.
Miss Okae further appealed to the Head of the Department to “utilize the funds for the sole benefit of the children”.
Receiving the donation on behalf of the Children, the Consultant in charge of the Pediatric Oncology Department of the Korle-Bu Teaching Hospital, Prof. Lorna Awo Renner, expressed their appreciation to the gesture shown by the MCF/Camfed Alumni group. She highlighted that there are lots of cases where the parents are unable to provide the necessary funds for the treatment process, thus the timeliness of the donation.
“I am really overwhelmed by the magnitude of what you have done. It is actually going to give life to several children and this came just in time. We actually were thinking about how we were going to cope with one child’s lab and treatment. You have overwhelmed us with such a blessing of GHC 10,000. Thank you very much and we pray that others will emulate your example”.
The Camfed Ghana Alumni are noted for engaging in give-back projects such as this donation, advocacies, mentorship, community engagement among others.
Click here for the full report on treating childhood cancers and you can watch the TV report here.
