Mexico’s New Hope for Kids with Cancer

Mexico City — To improve care for pediatric oncology patients, the Ministry of Health, together with other institutions in the sector, has presented the National Cancer Registry-Pediatrics Module, which will optimize the detection, treatment, and follow-up of girls, boys, and adolescents with these diseases.

The Secretary of Health, David Kershenobich, emphasized that this tool is a fundamental step to strengthening medical care in the country. He explained that the registry "will allow for clear statistics on the behavior of cancer in Mexico, identify risk factors, and diversify clinical management according to the stages of the disease."

He warned that challenges such as "the aging of the population and late diagnosis in children" make it essential to have precise information to advance treatments and increase life expectancy, especially among the most vulnerable groups.

In its initial phase, the registry will concentrate on pediatrics and is expected to handle between 3,000 and 5,000 estimated cases per year, before expanding to the adult population.

"This will allow us to move from reactive planning to predictive planning, anticipating care needs and resources," stated Eduardo Clark, Undersecretary of Sectoral Integration and Coordination of Medical Care Services, who warned that in Mexico, cancer is now the third leading cause of death.

This tool will make it possible to measure incidence and survival rates, plan the necessary resources, and guarantee that care is equitable and of quality for all girls and boys, regardless of their geographic location, assured Alejandro Svarch, head of IMSS-Bienestar.

Zoé Robledo, Director General of the Mexican Social Security Institute (IMSS), stated that this national cancer registry "should be seen as a map of hope, not as a simple database. It must humanize the numbers."

He indicated that just this year, 440 girls and boys defeated cancer without leaving their states of origin through this Institute's OncoCREAN strategy.

For the Undersecretary of Health Policy and Population Well-being, Ramiro López Elizalde, this launch is a historic advance in the care of childhood cancer. "Each record is a story, it is an opportunity to save lives," he affirmed.

He highlighted that, worldwide, more than 270,000 cases of cancer are diagnosed in children under 19 years of age each year, resulting in more than 100,000 deaths.