ICCD 2017 Infographics

“We Are One”: The World Comes Together for International Childhood Cancer Day 2017!

“We Are One!” Today—Wednesday, February 15, 2017, International Childhood Cancer Day—the world will come together to honor and celebrate the hundreds of thousands of children and families the world over whose lives have been forever altered by childhood cancer. We invite you to join us today, International Childhood Cancer Day, to highlight the critical need for concerted global action to fight this devastating disease. We believe that childhood cancer is curable, and that every child, in every country, has the right to basic health care, to specialized diagnostic tools and advanced treatments, and to a happy, healthy life during and after treatment for childhood cancer.

The Hard Facts on Childhood Cancer…

Childhood cancer affects children and adolescents in every community, in every country, in every part of the world. There are 300,000 new cases of childhood cancer diagnosed every single year around the world: 215,000 in children under the age of 14 and 85,000 in adolescents between the ages of 15 and 19. Yet we believe that many more cases of childhood cancer go unreported due to lack of national and international childhood cancer registries. And we believe that many more cases of childhood cancer go undiagnosed and untreated due to lack of access to even basic medical care, especially in low-income countries.

Childhood cancer incidence is increasing globally. In high- and middle-income countries, childhood cancer is the number one cause of non-communicable disease-related death in children and it is on track to overtake infectious disease as one of the highest causes of disease-related deaths in low-income countries. Yet while the number of new childhood cancer cases is growing, equitable treatment for childhood cancer is not. In high-income countries, survival rates for the most common forms of childhood cancer can average 84%, while survival rates in low- and middle-income countries—for those same forms of cancer—may still be as low as 10%. The simple fact is, children is low- and middle-income countries are more likely to die from childhood cancer than children in high-income countries.

And What YOU Can Do!

Please use and share this Childhood Cancer Infographic:

CHILDHOOD CANCER INFOGRAPHIC »

The goal of International Childhood Cancer Day is to bring awareness of the stark realities of childhood cancer and to advocate for “Better access to care for children and adolescents with cancer everywhere.” To make this goal a reality, stakeholders from the healthcare and research communities, parents and families, and community advocates must come together with national governments, civil society organizations, non-profit groups, and local communities to ensure equal access to appropriate care and support at every phase of the childhood cancer journey—from diagnosis through treatment and survivorship. Only by coming together in solidarity with a common goal can we help ensure that children everywhere, in every country, have the chance to survive childhood cancer and live long and meaningful lives.

Not only on International Childhood Cancer Day, but on every day, we hope you will work together with us to:

Ensure support for children with cancer everywhere: Access to basic health care, as well as access to safe, timely, and high-quality cancer care is a human right, but one which thousands of children around the world are denied.
Advocate for new and better research options: Children are not “little adults” and require both specialized medications developed specifically for their developing bodies and specialized medical facilities designed to handle the unique needs of children.
Spread the word: Join the global chorus of voices raising awareness about childhood cancer. We encourage you to use these infographics to help spread the word about childhood cancer, and the needs of the children and families battling this disease, throughout your community!

Because kids can’t fight cancer alone!®

About American Childhood Cancer Organization

American Childhood Cancer Organization (ACCO) is a non-profit charity dedicated to helping kids with cancer and their families navigate the difficult journey from cancer diagnosis through survivorship. Internationally, ACCO is the sole U.S. member of Childhood Cancer International (CCI), the largest patient-support organization for childhood cancer in the world. Here in the United States, ACCO promotes the critical importance of ensuring continued funding into new and better treatment protocols for childhood cancer. And most importantly, ACCO is focused on the children: developing and providing educational tools for children fighting cancer and their families, empowering them in their understanding of childhood cancer and the medical decisions they must make during this difficult journey. All of ACCO’s resources are available free of charge for families coping with childhood cancer.

or additional information about childhood cancer or on the ACCO, or to order resources for you or your child, please visit our website at www.acco.org , call 855.858.2226 or visit:

2017 IARC Report

The American Childhood Cancer Organization (ACCO) is very pleased to announce the release of a major new online report on childhood cancer by the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC). This new report previews a comprehensive and wide-reaching survey of the occurrence of childhood cancer in 80 countries world-wide which will give us a critical new understanding into the prevalence of this disease across the world. The release of this important report on International Childhood Cancer Day 2017 (ICCD) will help us and our partner organizations around the world continue to raise awareness about childhood cancer and the inequities of treatment options, specialized care, and even basic health care, facing children in many parts of the world.

Past research efforts have begun to show that occurrences of childhood cancer are increasing across the globe and that childhood cancer is threatening to overtake infectious disease as the primary disease-related cause of death among children worldwide. Moreover, in low- and middle-income countries where access to medical care for children and families is extremely limited, we believe that childhood cancer is significantly under-diagnosed and under-reported. We welcome the insight this new report provides into this critical issue, because only with accurate, reliable information can we begin to ensure that children and their families around the world gain access to critical medications and medical care necessary to diagnose and treat children with cancer.

Every year, International Childhood Cancer Day gives us the opportunity to stand together with our international partners to raise awareness about the devastating toll this disease takes on children and families around the world, and to highlight the appalling inequities of treatment and care suffered by children living in low- and middle-income countries. In the words of Dr. Christopher Wild, Director of IARC, “A child with cancer casts a long shadow on families, communities and society as a whole. I take this opportunity to highlight the need for effective cancer treatments to be available to all children, wherever they happen to live, but also for increased efforts from the international community to understand the occurrence, causes and ways to prevent this most devastating of conditions.”

We at ACCO believe that now is the time to highlight the critical need for better access to basic medical care, as well as diagnostic tools and treatment protocols, for children and families in under-developed countries. Only with research like this IARC report can we begin to address the “long shadow” that childhood cancer casts on families, communities, and our global society.

To read the online report in its entirety, please click here: http://iicc.iarc.fr/results/
About American Childhood Cancer Organization

For additional information about childhood cancer or on the ACCO, or to order resources for you or your child, please visit our website at www.acco.org , call 855.858.2226 or visit:

Healthcare Coverage

Share Your Story: the Critical Role of Patient Protection Provisions in Healthcare Coverage

Even as we speak, the future of the Affordable Care Act (sometimes called “Obamacare”) is being discussed and debated by politicians on both sides of the aisle in Washington. Yet during these debates, it is far too easy for policy-makers to focus on dry facts and ideological grandstanding and forget that there are real families whose lives will be dramatically altered by their decisions. So it is our goal to make sure they don’t forget the faces, to bring those faces—your faces—to the forefront of this debate

We ask you to help us show the politicians in Washington the personal side of the importance of healthcare coverage by sharing your story, by sharing the face of your childhood cancer warrior. We ask you to tell us how patient protection provisions in healthcare coverage have been a critical part of your family’s fight against childhood cancer. We ask you to work with us to remind the politicians that their decisions, whatever they may be, will have a very real, very human impact.

So how can you help?

Send us a photo of you and your family holding a sign with the words #CoverageMatters (please Click Here or the button below if you would like to print your sign)

CLICK HERE TO PRINT YOUR SIGN »

and/or

Tell us your story in a video, including the sign with #CoverageMatters

Please feel free to share your photo and/or video on our Facebook page using the #CoverageMatters hashtag, or send it to us via email at media@acco.org!

What do we mean by “Patient Protection Provisions”?

Simply put, Patient Protection Provisions are elements currently built into healthcare coverage to guarantee that more individuals have access to better health insurance. Some of the most well-known of the Patient Protection Provisions include:

Preventing insurers from denying coverage (including retroactively rescinding coverage) to children and adults with preexisting health conditions, or charging more for coverage.
Prohibiting lifetime caps or annual limits on healthcare coverage.
Enabling unmarried children to remain on their parents’ health insurance until the age of 26.

You have told us that these provisions matter to you! A recent ACCO survey indicated that:

9 out of 10 respondents believe the prohibition on lifetime and annual caps on coverage is important;
9 out of 10 respondents that the prohibition on preventing denial of coverage for preexisting health conditions is important.
7 out of 10 respondents believe that it is important for dependent children to receive healthcare coverage until the age of 26;

Moreover, the survey clearly indicates just how expensive childhood cancer treatment is, even with these provisions in place: 24% of respondents noted that out-of-pocket costs of cancer treatment was between $5,000 and $10,000, while 18% stated that they had incurred more than $10,000 in out-of-pocket expenses. Moreover, nearly 40% of respondents indicated that their family incurred “considerable” debt as a result of their child/teen’s cancer diagnosis. We can only imagine what these percentages might have been if healthcare coverage did not include these critical patient protection provisions.

To see the results of the survey, scroll down. This survey was shared on 2/8/2017 and had over 500 responses in four days.

#CoverageMatters

Health care coverage matters! You know it, we know it, and now we need to make sure the politicians in Washington know it. So please, send us your photo, send us your story on how these provisions have impacted your family, and help us remind Washington that #CoverageMatters!

About American Childhood Cancer Organization

For additional information about childhood cancer or on the ACCO, or to order resources for you or your child, please visit our website at www.acco.org , call 855.858.2226 or visit:

ICCD 2017

International Childhood Cancer Day

“We Are One!” On Wednesday, February 15, 2017, the world will come together to honor the hundreds of thousands of children and families the world over whose lives have been forever altered by childhood cancer. We invite you to join us on International Childhood Cancer Day to highlight the critical need for concerted global action to fight this devastating disease. We believe that childhood cancer is curable, and that every child, in every country, has the right to basic health care, to specialized diagnostic tools and advanced treatments, and to a happy, healthy life during and after treatment for childhood cancer.

Childhood Cancer Global Increase

Childhood cancer incidence is increasing globally. In high- and middle-income countries, childhood cancer is the number one cause of non-communicable disease-related death in children and it is on track to overtake infectious disease as one of the highest causes of disease-related deaths in low-income countries. Yet while the number of new childhood cancer cases is growing, equitable treatment for childhood cancer is not. In high-income countries, survival rates for the most common forms of childhood cancer can average 84%, while survival rates in low- and middle-income countries—for those same forms of cancer—may still be as low as 10%. The simple fact is, children in low- and middle-income countries are more likely to die from childhood cancer than children in high-income countries.

ICCD Goal

The goal of International Childhood Cancer Day is to bring awareness to this stark reality and to advocate for “Better access to care for children and adolescents with cancer everywhere.” To make this goal a reality, stakeholders from the healthcare and research communities, parents and families, and community advocates must come together with national governments, civil society organizations, non-profit groups, and local communities to ensure equal access to appropriate care and support at every phase of the childhood cancer journey—from diagnosis through treatment and survivorship. Only by coming together in solidarity with a common goal can we help ensure that children everywhere, in every country, have the chance to survive childhood cancer and live long and meaningful lives.

See what the World Health Organization (WHO) has to say about ICCD, Click Here.

About American Childhood Cancer Organization

For additional information about childhood cancer or on the ACCO, or to order resources for you or your child, please visit our website at www.acco.org , call 855.858.2226 or visit: