A Lilongwe charity has launched an urgent blood donation drive to support children undergoing cancer treatment, as Malawi marks Childhood Cancer Awareness Month this September -- with organisers revealing hundreds of children are diagnosed with the disease in the country every single year.
The Rotary Club of Lilongwe City Centre organised the initiative to back young patients being treated at the National Cancer Centre, where blood transfusions form a critical part of care for children fighting the disease.
President-elect of the club, Atupele Mpasa, said the drive was designed both to directly support children in treatment and to encourage ordinary Malawians to step forward as donors.
"As we know, transfusions are a big part of cancer care, and therefore we thought that we can contribute by mobilising blood donors," she said.
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In a stark illustration of the scale of the problem, Mpasa revealed that the National Cancer Centre diagnoses at least 250 children with cancer every year -- a figure she warned could be even higher in reality, given that some cases in Malawi go undiagnosed altogether.
She said the blood drive was intended to complement the work of health authorities in ensuring young patients have reliable access to blood whenever they need it during treatment.
The initiative comes as the Malawi Blood Transfusion Service (MBTS) continues to warn that demand for blood among children with cancer remains persistently high, with current supplies falling short of what is needed to meet demand.
Bridget Shumba, from MBTS's Public Relations Office, welcomed the Rotary Club's efforts, but issued a wider call to action, urging more Malawians to become regular blood donors to help prevent patients losing their lives simply because supplies have run dry.
Childhood cancer remains a significant, if often overlooked, public health challenge in Malawi, where late diagnosis and limited resources can make treatment far more difficult than in countries with more developed healthcare systems.
The National Cancer Centre serves as the country's primary facility for treating young cancer patients, many of whom rely on regular transfusions to survive chemotherapy and other gruelling treatment regimes.
Childhood Cancer Awareness Month, observed globally each September, is aimed at raising awareness of early warning signs and improving survival rates for children diagnosed with the disease.
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