WILLEMSTAD - Of all children diagnosed with cancer, the majority have leukemia. Each year, five new minor patients are admitted to the Curacao Medical Center (CMC).
The CMC paid attention to children with cancer on Thursday with the program 'Let's Fight Together'. This program was dedicated to International Childhood Cancer Day, which took place on Wednesday, February 15. Meindert Manshande, a pediatrician at the CMC, says that leukemia affects the development of white blood cells in the patient's bone marrow.
“Although leukemia is a serious disease, the survival rate is about 90%,” says Manshande. A child usually needs chemotherapy for two years, and most children are declared healthy after five years, according to the pediatrician.
Patricia Philippi, also a pediatrician in CMC, says that a child's first chemotherapy is given in the hospital of Curaçao. The follow-up of chemo is in the Princess Máxima Center in the Netherlands, where the patient starts an intensive process. Once back in Curaçao, the treatment plan that was made in the Netherlands will be continued.