WHO launches plan for free child cancer medicines

The WHO on Tuesday launched a new platform providing cost-free cancer medicines for thousands of children living in low- and middle-income countries. "No child with cancer should die because they lack access to essential medicines" said Dr Andre Ilbawi, the WHO’s Technical Officer for Cancer Control. 

The first medicines were being delivered to Mongolia and Uzbekistan, the WHO said, with further shipments planned for Ecuador, Jordan, Nepal and Zambia, as part of the project's pilot phase. The treatments are expected to reach around 5,000 children with cancer this year across at least 30 hospitals in those six nations.