Implementation of physical rehabilitation programs for children with cancer across low‐ and middle‐income countries: A need of the hour perspective

Abstract

Childhood cancer care in recent times has evolved to better advanced therapeutic regimens alongside improved supportive care lowering upsurged mortality rates over five decades. 1 Although accessibility to medical measures including pharmacotherapy, bone marrow transplantation, surgical-palliative care strategies, and behavioral counseling is better in high-income countries (HICs), barriers toward childhood cancer rehabilitation exist in both low-and high-resource settings in these countries. [2][3][4][5][6] Spanning the cancer trajectory, a global estimate study 7 on childhood and adolescent cancers reports data estimates from five international World Health Organization (WHO)-recognized research programs including International Incidence of Childhood Cancer, Third Edition (IICC-3), 8 Global Cancer Observatory (GLOBOCAN), 9 Global Burden of Disease Study (GBD) 2016, 10 SurvCan, 11 and CONCORD (CONCORD-3). 12 Greater than 90% of children from low-and middle-income countries (LMICs) have reported to be at a greater risk of developing childhood cancers when compared to HICs. 7,13 In addition, a dearth of childhood cancer registries with unstructured data availability and limited access to essential cancer-care facilities would result in lower hospital or day care admissions, further leading to lesser accessibility to physical rehabilitation (PR) services. 6,7 Scarce resources and affordable medical services promulgate the incidence, morbidity, or mortality of childhood cancers. 14,15 The global burden of childhood cancer analysis study Abbreviations: DALYs, disability adjusted life years; GBD, Global Burden of Disease; HICs, high-income countries; HRQoL, health-related quality of life; LMICs, low-and middle-income countries; MI, Mortality Index; PR, physical rehabilitation.