Every year, anywhere between ten and 12 children are diagnosed with cancer or blood disorders in Barbados.
Ranging from 18 months to 18 years old, these young patients face rounds of gruelling treatment to fight their way back to health. For those affected with blood disorders such as sickle cell anaemia, it can be a painful, lifelong battle.
However, an additional ally has joined the battle against paediatric cancers and blood disorders as Scotiabank has pledged CDN$1 million (BDS$1.87 million) in support for the Caribbean-Sick Kids Paediatric Cancer and Blood Disorders Project.
The pledge came through Scotiabank’s global philanthropic programme Bright Future. The Bank’s vice chairman Sabi Marwah explained that it was part of their long-standing connection to the Caribbean.
“The Caribbean is a big part of Scotiabank’s history and our future. This donation and our partnership with SickKids are directed at giving the next generation a better chance of growing up healthy and making their contribution to the Caribbean,” said Marwah.
The funds will support the project’s telemedicine programme, which will directly connect Barbadian and other Caribbean doctors with leading paediatric cancer and blood disorder experts at Canada’s world-renowned Hospital for Sick Children (SickKids).
Chief among these experts are the two Caribbean-Canadian leaders of the project, Barbadian-born Dr Victor Blanchette, who is SickKids’ clinical investigator in the Department of Paediatrics, and Jamaican-born Dr Upton Allen, who heads the hospital’s infectious diseases unit.
Working with local hospital partners in the Caribbean, the project includes a five-year plan to address the region’s gaps in research, care and education in order to advance the diagnosis and management of paediatric cancer and blood disorders.
Barbadian-based paediatric oncologist Dr Cheryl Alexis, who is the local champion for the project, stressed that it was focused on ensuring that hospitals in the Caribbean are better able to treat childhood cancers here at home.
“It’s not about us sending patients abroad. We want to be able to stand on our own – with help. So that’s why the project has come about,” she said.
There is still work to be done in improving the survival outcomes for children with cancer and serious blood disorders in the Caribbean. In Barbados, survival outcome rates range between 65 and 70 per cent on average while the figures are lower in other islands. Ted Garrard, CEO of the SickKids Foundation, pointed out: “When we began a process of assessing what was the current state of cancer care in the Caribbean, we found out that the survival rate for children in the Caribbean is about 50 per cent, whereas in Canada it is between 80 to 90 per cent.”
This is due to a combination of factors. Dr Alexis noted the dearth of doctors trained in childhood cancers, which she admitted could be an emotionally “gruelling” specialization at times. In fact, she is one of just four paediatric cancer specialists in the region, with others in The Bahamas, Trinidad and most recently Jamaica.
Other hindrances include limited technological resources, which can make it difficult to diagnose effectively and early, few nurses and pharmacists able to provide specialized front-line health care, and limited data on the effectiveness of treatments and epidemiology of paediatric cancer.
With Scotiabank’s support, the SickKids project will remedy some of these limitations through telemedicine and using physician envoys and the SickKids International Learner Programme to provide customized, hands-on training to locals.
Medical professionals will also go to SickKids on a regular basis for hands-on training at the Garron Family Cancer Centre at SickKids. Dr Alexis disclosed that this has already started, with two doctors travelling up to Toronto in the chill of winter in January for a week of training in flow cytometry, which she noted is “the way to diagnose now”.
Scotiabank’s director of business support for Caribbean East, Claire Jordan, recently visited Dr Alexis for a briefing on the project’s progress and expressed her pleasure at Scotiabank’s involvement with the project.
“As a Caribbean person, and especially as a parent, I am delighted that Scotiabank is making a difference in the health and wellness of our children in the region. We’ve been part of the Caribbean since 1889 and our contribution to this project shows our continued commitment to the region, especially in these economic times when it is needed more than ever.”
Dr Alexis thanked Scotiabank for their contribution, saying her young patients deserved all the help they could get in their fight against their illnesses, and emphasizing how their bravery had inspired her over the years.
“They have a level of insight that you wouldn’t believe. They are so brave, and I have learned so much from treating these children.”
