PAHO partners with St Jude Children’s Research Hospital to improve access to medicines for childhood cancer in Latin America and the Caribbean – PAHO/WHO

Washington DC, February 15, 2024 – The Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) has announced a new partnership agreement with St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital to help strengthen equitable access to cancer medicines for children in the Americas Latin and the Caribbean.

The four-year agreement will focus on the provision of quality medicines through PAHO’s Strategic Fund and will support technical cooperation with Member States to strengthen childhood cancer care services and medicines management systems. Its goal is to improve outcomes for childhood cancer, which affects more than 47,000 children and claims more than 12,000 lives each year in the Region.

In the Americas, “childhood cancer survival rates vary between countries, highlighting disparities,” said PAHO Director Dr. Jarbas Barbosa. This is due to differences in the quality of treatment and care services, including access to timely diagnosis and adherence to treatment, he added.

Under the new agreement, the PAHO Strategic Fund will work on the implementation of the World Health Organization-St Jude global platform for access to childhood cancer medicines in Latin America and the Caribbean. This global initiative will provide a supply of quality-assured childhood cancer drugs to low- and middle-income countries.

The platform will provide end-to-end support for drug delivery; assist countries with drug selection; develop treatment standards and build information systems to drive evidence-based innovation. Approximately 120,000 children worldwide are expected to benefit from this first phase until 2027.

“The Global Platform for Access to Medicines against Childhood Cancer is an innovative and transformative initiative. It will create a coordinated approach to the purchase and distribution of essential medicines for children with cancer, easing the financial burden on governments, hospitals and families,” said Carlos Rodríguez-Galindo, director of St. Jude Global.

The partnership supports PAHO’s broader commitment to addressing complex health challenges, ensuring equitable access to essential medicines, and building a healthier future for all children in the Americas.