In Kazakhstan, more than 70% of children with oncohematological diseases live longer than five years. This was stated by the Minister of Health Akmaral Alnazarova at the II International Congress on Pediatric Oncology held in Samarkand. This was reported by Qazaqyia.kz citing Sputnik Kazakhstan.
For acute lymphoblastic leukemia, this figure reaches 85%. Every year, about 600 new cases of oncological diseases are detected among children in Kazakhstan.
"Since 2013, more than 630 hematopoietic stem cell transplantations have been performed. The development of domestic medical centers is gradually reducing the need to send children abroad for treatment," the Ministry of Health reports.
During the congress, Akmaral Alnazarova called on Central Asian countries to join forces to increase access to modern methods of treating childhood cancer. Key areas include improving diagnostic accuracy, joint training of doctors, developing scientific research including exploring the possibilities of CAR-T therapy, as well as cooperation in providing children with antitumor drugs. Special attention was paid to interaction between national bone marrow donor registries. This will expand the possibilities of finding compatible donors for children in need of transplantation.