Out of the many cancers affecting children, leukemia is the most common and covers a high percentage of the cancers and yet, people know little about it.

Although leukemia is among the most common childhood cancers, it most often occurs in older adults. It is more common in men than women and death rates from leukemia are higher among the elderly. In children, 70 per cent are cured. 

However, a few numbers of people are not aware that they are prone to this cancer which most people refer to as “cancer of the blood”. Due to this reluctance, there is an increase in the threat of leukemia in Uganda. Leukemia is most treatable and curable if caught in the earliest stages of the disease. 

Journalism@Mak’s Mary Sonia interviewed medical students at Mulago School of Nursing and Midwifery, who should be well informed about leukemia; however they had mixed reactions regarding their knowledge about the cancer also explaining why many people are ignorant about it.

Petronilla Nabusoba, a third year student at  the institution, believes she is immune attaching it to religion, “ I think I can’t suffer from it because the Bible says that By His Stripes am healed so there is no way I really think I can be susceptible to leukemia.”

Ivan Muhwezi possesses knowledge and can easily explain leukemia but has never gone for testing because of uncertainties regarding the possibilities of the test.

Anita Tumusiime, believes that it’s a cancer that doesn’t cure, however she hasn’t gone for testing because, she has not experienced any of its signs and symptoms like low levels of blood which does not worry her.

Sumaya Namazzi, currently attending to a relative suffering from breast cancer, says that she has never of heard of leukemia even as she mothered her child. She only knows about breast cancer and cervical cancer.

Doctor Joseph Lubega, a pediatric oncologist at the Uganda Cancer Institute, explains that people in Uganda know little about cancers in general and more so cancers in children including leukemia. More to this, there are few research studies that have been made towards leukemia and cancers. This makes it a case that people are less informed about.

Dr. Joseph Lubega defines Leukemia as a cancer that develops from the white blood cells in the bone marrow, where they multiply so fast, take over the normal functions of the bone marrow in the child’s blood and it becomes premature to carry out its functions which is to fight infection.

There are various signs and symptoms with which some of the parents are not easily able to suspect to be leukemia. The most common signs include bone pains most especially leg pains, anemia which makes a child look pale, stop playing in other words a child becomes dull, bleeding especially from the gums when brushing, infections like pneumonia, fevers, loss of weight unnecessarily and loss of appetite.

In case of any unexplained symptoms, or if a child is un well and keeps complaining about pains, it’s advisable to seek medical care as soon  they can, however much there are no screening tests for leukemia. Dr. Joseph advises people to see proper trained Doctors not visiting, medical stores or clinics or quack doctors. Regular checkups are important because healthcare professionals like Doctors are trained to spot the early warning signs of Leukemia.

According to James Kafeero, an oncologist at the Uganda Cancer Institute, Mulago Hospital, child hood leukemia is on the rise.

“We diagnose, at most, two cases at the institute every day. Leukemia cases contribute to about 15% of childhood cancers in Uganda,” he adds. Kafeero notes that leukemia is among the curable childhood cancers, if diagnosed early and treated in time.

The leukemia research foundation analysis shows that more than 176,000 are expected in UK and more than 310,000 Americans are living with leukemia.