Health and inclusion
TREATING CHILDHOOD CANCER IN AFRICA
Funding of medicines purchases
Commitment
Since 2014
Partner
GFAOP (Groupe Franco-Africain d’Oncologie Pédiatrique)
Target country
Countries in Africa
Annual donation amount
€30,000
Context
In 2000, Professor Jean Lemerle, former head of the Department of Paediatrics at the Gustave Roussy Institute, found that African children with cancer could be treated and cured in the vast majority of cases. Together with several of his African paediatric colleagues, he founded the Groupe France Africain d’Oncologie Pédiatrique (GFAOP), an association whose mission is to cure children with cancer in Africa by following two essential principles:
- Care for children on site in Africa;
- Train teams of African doctors specially to provide this care.
After over 20 years of activity, the association is now active in four main areas: training, clinical research, sending medicines and supporting families with a shared and innovative vision: “children with cancer in Africa can and must be treated locally by trained personnel”. Recognised as a reference organisation for children’s cancers in French-speaking Africa, it brings together more than 280 active members in 18 countries of the Maghreb and Sub-Saharan Africa within 24 paediatric oncology care units. Its programmes aim to meet the World Health Organisation (WHO) goal of treating at least 60% of the world’s children with cancer by 2030, in line with the WHO’s Global Initiative for Childhood Cancer.
Since its inception, GFAOP has treated 13,000 children and trained 800 doctors and nurses.
Actions taken in 2021
Since its creation in 2014, the Louis Omer-Decugis Foundation has supported the GFAOP project as part of a long-term partnership. An initial three-year agreement was signed in 2014 and renewed for the first time in 2018 and again at the end of 2020.
1. PURCHASE OF ANTI-CANCER DRUGS
Among the GFAOP’s programmes, the Louis Omer-Decugis Foundation has decided to support the purchase of anti-cancer drugs, a fundamental element in the treatment of cancer that is often overlooked when donations are made.
2.RENEWAL OF SUPPORT FOR GFAOP FOR 3 YEARS
At the end of November 2020, the Louis Omer-Decugis Foundation renewed its support and commitment to the GFAOP by signing a new three-year sponsorship agreement (2021-2023) with its new President, Professor Pierre Bey, who succeeds Professor Mohamed Harif, with whom the previous agreement was signed.
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