Setting
Argentina extends over 2.8 million square kilometers. It has 24 political units: 23 provinces and Buenos Aires city, the Federal District. Its population is mainly urban (90%); 46% of the population is distributed over the Federal District and the province of Buenos Aires. Political units are commonly grouped into five major geographical areas (“regions”), as shown on the map (Fig. 1). In 2010, the population 0-19 years of age consisted of 13.8 million children with the following distribution: 61% in the central region (CEN), 14% in the northwest (NW), 11% in the northeast (NE), 8% in the Cuyo region (CUY), and 6% in the region of Patagonia (RP).22Of all the children with cancer, 83% receive free healthcare in public centers. Throughout the country, there are 37 private and public PHOUs where partial or complete treatment is provided; six of these units are provincial referral centers with different care levels. More than 40% of the children are assisted at the national public referral center.
The ROHA is part of the National Cancer Institute of the Ministry of Health within the National Program for the Comprehensive Care of Children and Adolescents with Cancer (PROCUINCA). The data used by the ROHA are provided by different sources; most of the cases are reported by different PHOUs throughout the country. In addition, the ROHA receives information from 12 population-based cancer registries that are not exclusively pediatric.