Govt unable to help children with cancer

Govt unable to help children with cancer

JAKARTA: Indonesia marked on Tuesday the international child
cancer day with an appeal to social organizations and people to
show they care for children with the deadly disease.

Minister of Health Achmad Sujudi said 4,100 of 210,000 people
diagnosed with cancer in the country every year were children
aged under 10-years old.

Leukemia is the most rampant cancer among children effecting
30 percent of all sufferers, followed by brain cancer and eye
cancer with 20 percent each.

Sujudi said people could help save the country's children from
cancer by practicing a healthy lifestyle and taking their
children to doctors if they showed any symptoms of cancer.

Eating vegetables and fruits, avoiding alcoholic drinks, food
containing preservatives and additives, and smoking was one of
many ways to prevent cancer, Sujudi said.

He said people's participation in the program was pivotal
since the government had no resources or funds to help the
children. -- JP