At the beginning of August 2024, cancer stakeholders in Uganda gathered at the Kampala Serena Hotel for a two-day National Meeting to develop a Child and Adolescent Cancer Control Strategy for Uganda. The meeting was convened by the Uganda Cancer Institute, the World Health Organization, and St. Jude Global. The purpose of the meeting was to identify national priorities and strategies to cure and improve the quality of life of children and adolescents.

According to the World Health Organization (WHO), palliative care for children is the active total care of the child’s body, mind, and spirit, and involves giving support to the family and it should be initiated when the illness is diagnosed and continues regardless of whether or not a child receives treatment directed at the disease. In Uganda today and for cancer alone, WHO stated that only 30% of children and adolescents (approximately 700 of the 3000) who receive a cancer diagnosis each year go to cancer treatment centers. That means several remain in the communities in need of care palliative care inclusive. PCAU is part of the national steering committee on Uganda’s WHO Global Initiative for Childhood Cancer (GICC).