Children Cancer Stories by Rukh Yusuf - Blog # 07

I am Rukh Yusuf, Clinical Pharmacist, also specialized in Total Parenteral Nutrition and Bone Marrow Transplant. I have been working in Pediatric Oncology unit of a public hospital for several years. The mission of this blog is to bring to you the real-life stories of child patients suffering from cancer. Cancer is still a difficult disease to handle and treat. However, when it strikes the children, some so young that they cannot even speak, their agony is beyond expression and words. Let us pray especially for children suffering from cancer for early and complete remission. May Allah shower His Merciful Blessings upon them. Aameen.

Treatment success of any disease is dependent on many factors includingdiagnostic tools,proper diagnosis, patient’s compliance to treatment, and medicines availability.In case of pediatric patients,a lot of things needs to be focused: children’s psychology, their sensitivity, immunity,and inabilityto explain their pain and discomfort are the major reasons contributing to the treatment success or failure.Due to the above factors, severity increases when we talk about pediatric oncology patients.

Out of all reasons, medicine availability is the most sensitive area when we talk about children with cancer. Medical staff can’t do much when some crucial medicine is not available in market for any reason. It is more soespecially whenno alternative is there or is unavailable too. Cancer treatment involves several medicines that are given as per protocol. Treatment efficacy is affected badly when some of the medicines are not administered due to shortage or for any other reason.

Medicine availability and cost of medicines are two subjects which are critical to the treatment of cancers. Unfortunately, both areas leave much to be desired. I would keep returning to these topics from different dimensions.

Amphotericin B is among the top list ofimportant medicines for pediatric patients, both for treatment and prophylactic use.It is still not registered in Pakistan, and therefore is never freely available. It comes to market through grey channel and sells at uncontrolled price. As per law, public sector hospitals can’t purchase any unregistered medicine. They must go through proper channel in order to provide freely for patient’s use. Scenario becomes more difficult for a family and even for healthcare provider when the medicine is life saving and the patient is a child. No one would want to see a child suffering due to unavailability of medicine.

Great are the philanthropists and donors who manage such medicines for our child patients. By Allah’s grace, our hospital has such people who help these children in the hour of need. There is a dire need of a system to rectify such issues of non-availability through registration of medicines at the level of DRAP.

Our today’s survivor is nine years old Abdul Basit from Rahim Yar Khan. In Dec 2019, Abdul Basit got fever which did not subside with treatment. Due to recurrent fever and swelling in lymph nodes, his parents took him to the tertiary-care hospital in Rahim Yar Khan. Biopsy was done and after diagnosis of Acute Lymphocytic Leukemia, Abdul Basit was referred to Lahore for treatment.

In a tertiary care hospital in Lahore, doctors informed about the type of blood cancer and told them to complete treatment which would be of three years duration. The parents agreed and the treatment was started. Abdul Basit’s father is driver and family has only two children: Abdul Basit and his sister. They had to leave their daughter with relative for the treatment of their only son.

Presently, the family is satisfied with the treatment.They say that almost of all the medicines were available without cost from the hospital, except couple of injections which werenot available in hospital and were short in the market too, and so were too expensive to afford.

Abdul Basit got fungal infection somehow and it was difficult for him to eat because of mouth infection. Amphotericin B injection was needed for his treatment which was not available in the hospital.If it was available in the market,it would be too expensive for the family to afford. They could manage to buy only a couple of injections due to unreasonably high cost.

Our blessed donors came to help and arranged injections for him. His mother is thankful to the donors and helping hospital staff that they feel the pain of suffering child and manage injection and other supplies for him. It’s been two years now that little angel’s treatment is going on, brave soul is still fighting with the disease and his parents are still struggling to stay in hospital and complete their son’s treatment.

May Allah reward the kind donors and bless Abdul Basit best of health. Aameen

 

Note: names have been changed to protect identity.