Conclusion

We found that optimal pediatric oncology care in Cameroon is compromised by limited-service availability and inadequate human resource capacity. In addition, a high proportion of children eligible for chemotherapy abandoned treatment due to high cost of treatment package. Furthermore, the lack of harmonization of data collection tools and the absence of a standard data reporting mechanism hinders informed decision-making.
Our study suggests an urgent need to expand pediatric oncology case identification services and build human resource capacity on treatment initiation, patient education and tracking to minimize dropout rates. In addition, harmonizing pediatric cancer data collection tools and designing a reporting scheme will facilitate the creation of a pediatric cancer registry. In addition, synchronizing pediatric cancer data with the national health system software will increase the visibility of pediatric cancer burden across the nation. Once the data has been collected and centralised, sufficiently equipped technical teams must be put into action to develop interventions with a high public health impact. Finally, there is imminent need for the creation of a nation cancer institute which will bring together cancer specialists (oncologists, radiologists, surgeons etc) in a common technical platform.