Tumors are almost as old as humanity. They have been identified for centuries, although they have never become a global public health problem like now. Conventionally, it is thought that they only affect the elderly, but this is not the case. Actually anyone can develop them and that includes children. Do you know which are the countries with the highest rate of childhood cancer in the world?
The first case identified in the world
In the first instance, it should be remembered that the first cases of tumors in the world were recorded thousands of years ago. Some time ago, a team of anthropologists from the University of Granada (UGr) in Spain identified in Egypt the remains of two mummies from the Pharaonic era that lived approximately in the year 2000 BC. After carrying out an in-depth analysis, it was confirmed that they died of of breast cancer.
To carry out the investigation, computed tomography was required, a technique considered one of the most modern and that allows obtaining precise results. Using a state-of-the-art scanner that is capable of performing 124 simultaneous tomographic cuts, it was detected one of the oldest cancer cases on record.
For its part, this problem is of great relevance among the child population because it is already one of the main causes of mortality in this sector of the population. Each year, 280,000 children between the ages of 0 and 19 are diagnosed with some type of cancer. Although the most worrying thing is that the trend continues to rise.
In Latin America and the Caribbean alone, it is estimated that at least 29,000 children and adolescents under the age of 19 will be affected by cancer each year. Of them, about 10 thousand will die from this disease according to figures from the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO).
Where are more cases detected per total number of children?
However, based on current figures, the list of countries with the highest rate of childhood cancer in the world is headed by Belgium. It has a gross rate of 20.4 cases per 100 thousand infants under 15 years of age. Below is Honduras with 18.6 and Singapore with 18.5.
On the other hand, a notable difference is the number of new cases and registered deaths. In high-income countries, more than 80 percent of children affected by cancer are cured. Whereas in most low- and middle-income nations the cure rate is about 20 percent.
This is due to the ease of receiving treatments and medications in a timely manner. In all cases, it is essential to be able to control the disease and prevent it from advancing to serious stages that put the lives of minors at risk.