Result
The surveyed hospitals offered
both pediatric chemotherapy and palliative care services; however, none
offered nuclear medicine or radiotherapy services. In terms of
workforce, human resources were grossly lacking in both hospitals. The
available ones include one pediatric hemato-oncologist, one medical
oncologist, one resident pediatric oncologist, one pediatric surgeon,
and 14 oncology nurses and about 40% (18/45) of have received specialty
training in oncology. The commonest childhood cancer managed in these
facilities, was Burkitt lymphoma, (39, 23%). About 30% of children on
chemotherapy abandoned their treatment, primarily due to lack of funds
to continue with treatment sessions. In both settings, the capacity to
diagnose cancer and provide counselling was limited. In addition, the
tools to capture and transmit data varied by facility, resulting to
different data set being generated. Furthermore, both facilities, had no
schedule and timelines for data reporting.