What we do

Excluding outside causes, paediatric cancer is the leading cause of death in children more than four years old. From the clinical standpoint, paediatric tumours present shorter latency periods, faster growing and more invasive. However, they respond better to treatment, with good prognoses. If diagnosed early, some 70% of cases can be cured.

The programmes run by the Instituto Desiderata in the Paediatric Oncology area are generally designed to strengthen the public health network providing specialised care for childhood cancers in Rio de Janeiro, drawn up along two main lines: early diagnosis and hospital care. The United through the Care (Unidos Pela Cura) initiative is a complex and broad-ranging programme that addresses the three main challenges that must be surmounted in order to encourage early diagnoses: education for paediatricians, organisation of the access flow for confirming the disease, and the information system for monitoring and assessing the outcomes of the programmes. This Initiative was set up and has been implemented jointly by public administrators and private institutions committed to treating childhood cancers in Rio de Janeiro.

In the outreach field, the Instituto Desiderata worked through two programmes: Ampliando o Acolher (Extending the Welcome) and Living and Winning (Vencer e Viver). The former implements projects designed to humanise treatment and care, such as the Aquário Carioca, which turns chemotherapy treatment rooms into a magic underwater world that provides a pleasantly playful setting for young patients, their relatives and practitioners. The latter addresses projects that help strengthen the specialised network dealing with childhood cancers, through investments in infrastructure.

Programmes

See the generating knowledge content of this area.