A healthy 12-year-old girl who lives in Mrauk-U township, at the northern part of Rakhine State, suddenly becomes weak and was unable to walk within one week of suffering in July 2023. Both of her parents had passed away and her elder sister is taking care of the family as the sole breadwinner by earning from cultivating a paddy field. However, sadly, the cyclone MOCHA swiped away their house and damaged the paddy field which was their main source of family income. Although the community helped them temporarily lodge in the neighbouring family’s home and share food to survive, the indwelling and bedridden illness of the girl made her sister and herself commute all the way to Yangon for definitive diagnosis of childhood cancer and further treatment after a week of evaluation at the Mrauk–U hospital.
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| The caregiver (elder sister) telling about the health condition of the girl (patient), Rakhine State (Photo credit: WHO Myanmar) |
The cyclone MOCHA had badly hit many places in Myanmar on May 14, 2023. Rakhine State situated at the west coast of Myanmar has been hit the worst and many residential populations were affected. The impact of cyclone on children with cancer and families, combined with the pre-existing poor socio-economic situation, challenges the communities to spend for healthcare. Transportation in Rakhine State is less developed in the mixed of geographical conditions so that the families need to spend double amount of cost at least for two persons – patient and caregiver.
However, most of the families from Rakhine State are from poor economic condition striving with daily wadge work for their living. Cyclone Mocha added an extra layer of spending for housing repairs and replacement of destroyed essential materials and supplies. The suffering resulting from Cyclone Mocha and increasing high inflation made families difficult to prioritize continuing treatment for their children with high transportation cost and other spendings during treatment despite their willingness to cure their children. This hardship will reversely affect the WHO Global Initiative for Childhood Cancer to increase at least 60% of childhood cancer survival, reduce the suffering and improve the quality of life of children with cancer.
To address this confusion within families and alleviate hardships among communities, WHO Myanmar takes an action to support round trip transportation cost for two persons – the patient and one care giver, to alleviate their financial burden resulting from high travel costs as part of Cyclone Mocha relief response. The request to support for patients from Childhood Cancer Initiative project was received and WHO immediately allocated emergency funds in USD 6,650, a rather small amount that goes a long way to help families relieve the large amount of budget from their savings. This support enables them to travel without financial difficulty and thus encourages them to continue taking treatment without surrender.
The big sister (caregiver) of the girl (patient) heartfeltly expressed thanks saying “Before a strong wind (cyclone) hit, we were able to carefully manage our living with our low income. The strong win had made a huge loss for us. It destroyed our house and our paddy field. We lost our hope and foreseen income, and we have to repair our house which is the double burden for us. My sister became weak and found out that she is unable to walk all of a sudden. It is fortunate that the project’s support compensates our travel cost which allow us to spend on other medication costs including but not limited to buying syringe, drip set, some medicines, etc.”.
Early diagnosis in all settings is the key to improving the chances of survival for childhood cancer. While saving lives is in the hands of caregivers, families, health personnel, it is equally important that the patient gains the access to such healthcare service. Significant improvements can be made in the lives of children with cancer by detecting early and avoiding delays in care.
By providing cash assistance to children battling cancer, WHO not only helps ease the financial burden on affected families, but also underscores the importance of maintaining essential healthcare services, even in the aftermath of natural disasters. While it is crucial to recognize that cash assistance can be a lifeline for patients and their families, this is just one part of the solution. A holistic approach that combines immediate financial support with long – term healthcare infrastructure development and disaster preparedness is essential for ensuring the resilience of healthcare systems in cyclone – prone regions, like Myanmar. Nevertheless, this initiative highlights that WHO commits to address the unique healthcare needs of vulnerable populations in times of need and crisis.