Acreditar – Association of Parents and Friends of Children with Cancer commemorated this year "Golden September" with the message "Don't force us to choose. A child with cancer needs both parents", alerting to the need to review the accompaniment regime for children with oncological disease so that both parents can be present simultaneously during the most complex phases of the disease, such as diagnosis, relapse or end of life.
This claim arises following an Open Letter promoted by Acreditar last year, which alerted to the need to reinforce social support for families. Since then, important steps have been taken, namely in the assistance subsidy for children with oncological disease, which went from 65% to 100% of the reference remuneration. However, the possibility of both parents accompanying the child simultaneously during the most complex moments continues to be unresolved.
The European Standards of Care for Children and Adolescents with Cancer, whose Portuguese version will be launched by Acreditar in September, argue that the response in pediatric oncology cannot be limited to clinical treatment and that the family must have real conditions to be present when the child needs it most. Filipa Silveira e Castro, member of the directive commission of Acreditar, highlighted that these standards give visibility to needs that the association has been pointing out for several years in Portugal, from conditions in health teams to fairer social protection.
In Portugal, approximately 400 new cases of pediatric cancer are diagnosed per year and, despite the survival rate being around 80%, cancer remains the first cause of death due to disease among children and adolescents. The Portuguese Society of Hematology and Pediatric Oncology recognizes that, despite the progress achieved, relevant challenges persist in the response in Portugal, namely in the long-term follow-up of survivors and in the capacity to respond in specialized areas.
