St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital has joined with World Health Organization and global partners to begin a collaboration that will focus exclusively upon improving cancer survival rates for children across the globe.
This effort aims to cure at least 60% of children with six of the most common kinds of cancer worldwide by 2030. We will do this by increasing access to care for children with cancer, enhancing quality of care by developing national centers of excellence and regional satellites, and influencing the integration of childhood cancer into national policies to ensure the greatest chance of survival for all affected children.
“St. Jude was founded on the idea that no child should die in the dawn of life,” said James R. Downing, MD, St. Jude president and CEO. “This initiative will provide the tools and resources to shape how childhood cancer is addressed globally, encouraging national health systems to make childhood cancer a priority and dramatically improving cure rates for children with cancer.”
Our Goal
Our goal is to cure at least 60% of children with six of the most common kinds of cancer worldwide by 2030.
Increasing Access to Care
Cancer is the leading cause of death for children and adolescents around the world and each year, approximately 300,000 children are diagnosed. About 8 in 10 of these children live in low- and middle-income countries, where cure rates are often estimated at only 20 percent. However, in higher-income countries cure rates exceed 80 percent due to more early diagnoses and increased availability to effective treatment.
Strategic actions will include:
- Supporting clinical care for the most vulnerable children
- Ensuring all children with cancer can access high-quality medicines and technologies
- Strengthening training programs by developing centers of excellence
Developing National Centers of Excellence
For over 20 years, St. Jude has invested in local programs and leaders in resource-limited countries to improve the quality of care and outcomes for children and adolescents. In May 2018, it formally launched St. Jude Global, which involves an initial investment of $100 million to accelerate efforts to improve childhood cancer survival rates worldwide through the development of regional, national and hospital-specific efforts in education, capacity-building and research.
Strategic actions will include:
- Expert technical support from St. Jude faculty and health care leaders around the world
- A designated programmatic investment of $15 million from St. Jude
- Government and health care leaders regionally and globally working together with WHO support
Influencing National Policies
St. Jude, in collaboration with WHO and other global health leaders, will expand services and capacities for health centers around the world to tackle childhood cancer. This effort hopes to provide a platform to support in-county implementation efforts for childhood cancer control and reducing global disparities.
Our Leadership
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- President and Chief Executive Officer, St. Jude Children's Research Hospital
- Donald Pinkel Chair of Childhood Cancer Treatment
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- Executive Vice President
- Chair, Department of Global Pediatric Medicine
- Director, St. Jude Global
- Co-Associate Director, Outreach, Comprehensive Cancer Center
- Four Stars of Chicago Endowed Chair in International Pediatric Outreach
- Department of Global Pediatric Medicine
- Department of Oncology
- St. Jude Global
- Comprehensive Cancer Center
- St. Jude Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences
