The Sanofi Espoir Foundation and the Union for International Cancer Control are extending their My Child Matters partnership for another three years

38,700 children receiving care and 9,700 healthcare professionals trained since 2006

Paris, France and Geneva, Switzerland – 27-2-2013 — /europawire.eu/ — On the occasion of International Childhood Cancer Day, the Union for International Cancer Control (UICC) and the Sanofi Espoir Foundation have announced the three-year renewal of their My Child Matters partnership dedicated to fighting childhood cancer in low-resources countries.

The new partnership is built around three key priorities: enhanced support and evaluation of ongoing projects in 15 countries in Asia, Africa and Latin America; backing to international care networks; and awareness-raising actions at the highest level to make childhood cancer a priority on the global public health agenda.

“A program is a success when it has delivered real benefits in improving access to healthcare for the world’s poorest people, while at the same time reinforcing the care chain and influencing health policy,” said Caty Forget, Managing Director of the Sanofi Espoir Foundation. “Today, we are pleased to further strengthen our My Child Matters partnership which has largely demonstrated its capacity to move things forward. Especially in the Philippine Children’s Medical Center where the two-year survival rate for leukemia has improved from 16% to 68% and where treatment for the poorest communities is now supported by the government.”

Since 2006, over 40 projects have received support in 26 countries, providing care for a total of 38,700 children and training 9,700 healthcare professionals.

“The partnership with the Sanofi Espoir Foundation began in 2005, and is one of the strongest and most emblematic projects for the UICC because it has had such a significant impact on the fight against childhood cancer around the world,” said Cary Adams, Chief Executive Office, Union for International Cancer Control. “Today, the gap between survival rates in developed and in low-income countries is closing. Capabilities for assuring early diagnosis and treatment have been developed in the countries concerned. And the childhood cancer cause is now being championed at both country and at the highest international level by the WHO and the United Nations Committee on NonCommunicable Diseases.”

More than 175,000* children suffer from cancer each year and for some 90,000* it is fatal. Nearly 80% of children with cancer in developed countries are cured as a result of effective early care. Unfortunately, this figure falls to 20% and even 10% in countries with limited resources and where it is often difficult to access information, early diagnosis, care and treatment.

The My Child Matters program was conceived by the Sanofi Espoir Foundation team and rolled out together with the UICC, the St Jude Children’s Research Hospital (USA) and other partner organizations. It combines financial support, advice from international experts, and networking activities to improve each link in the healthcare chain: information and awareness-raising targeting both the general public and the authorities, training qualified personnel, much earlier diagnosis, access to care, including the still very underdeveloped fields of pain management and palliative care, and psychological support for children, families and their carers.

Each year, every local partner measures and reports on the impact of the program on its direct beneficiaries, including children and their families and health professionals, in order to assess its leverage effect on country health policies.

* Source : UICC / SIOP (February 2013): http://www.siop-online.org/

About the UICC
UICC is a membership organisation that exists to help the global health community accelerate the fight against cancer. Founded in 1933 and based in Geneva, UICC’s growing membership of over 770 organisations across 156 countries, features the world’s major cancer societies, ministries of health, research institutes and patient groups. Together with its members, key partners, the World Health Organization, World Economic Forum and others, UICC is tackling the growing cancer crisis on a global scale. For more information: www.uicc.org.

About the Sanofi Espoir Foundation
The Sanofi Espoir Corporate Foundation was created in October 2010 by Sanofi to leverage more than 15 years of commitment to international solidarity. It is dedicated to helping reduce healthcare inequalities, particularly among the world’s most needy communities, as part of its social responsibility agenda. Its actions revolve around three major objectives: controlling childhood cancer,
fighting against maternal and child mortality, and ensuring access to healthcare for the world’s poorest populations. For more information: www.fondation sanofi-espoir.com.

List of members of the Steering Committee of My Child Matters
The President, Professor Raul Ribeiro (Director, Division of Leukemia/Lymphoma, St Jude Children’s Research Hospital, USA). Other members: Professor Andrea Biondi (Ospedale S. Gerardo Clinica Pediatrica, Italy), Professor Franco Cavalli (Director, Istituto Oncologico della Svizzera Italiana), Professor Mariana Kruger, President SIOP Afrique, representing the International Society of Paediatric Oncology-SIOP, The Netherlands), Mr. Kenneth Dollman (International Confederation Of Childhood Cancer Parent Organisations-ICCCPO), Dr. Joe Harford (Director of International Relations, National Cancer Institute, USA), Professor Mhamed Harif (President, Groupe Franco-Africain d’Oncologie Pédiatrique, France), Ms. Ruth Hoffman (Director, Childhood Cancer Foundation, USA), Professor Tezer Kutluk (Turkish Association for Cancer Research & Control, Turkey), Dr. Ian Magrath (President, International Network for Cancer Treatment and Research, Belgium), Dr. Twalib Ngoma (Director, Ocean Road Cancer Institute, Tanzania), and Dr. Eva Steliarova-Foucher (Research Division, Centre International de Recherche sur le Cancer, France).

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Contacts:
Sanofi Espoir
Frédéric Lemonde-San
+ (33) 1 53 77 91 55
E-mail: mr@sanofi.com

Foundation UICC
Caroline Perréard
Tel. + (41) 22 809 18 23
E-mail: Perreard @ UICC