The unpleasant truth - The World Health Organization expects 16
million new cancer cases worldwide by 2020, with 70 percent in
developing countries such as Rwanda. - More than 2.4 million
cancer deaths could be avoided each year in developing countries
by using prevention and treatment interventions that are
affordable and available in rich countries. - Developing
countries account for almost 80 percent of the global cancer
burden (loss from death and disability) but only 5 percent of
global spending on cancer. - In Rwanda, 3,430 cancer cases were
registered from 2007-2011; 320 were in children under 15. This
doesn't include the great number of cases that go undiagnosed
and unreported. - A Rwandan child diagnosed with acute
lymphoblastic leukemia was assured of a virtual death sentence.
This cancer has an 80 percent cure rate in the United States.
Hope for the future The Butaro Cancer Center of Excellence, in
Butaro Hospital in northern rural Rwanda, vastly improves
Rwandans' options for diagnosis and treatme