The death of a child from cancer is a terrible but increasingly rare event in affluent nations – where mortality rates are at an all-time low with more than eight in 10 sufferers now surviving childhood cancer. In contrast, in low-income countries, children routinely die of diseases that can be cured: only three out of 10 who get cancer will survive.
The odds are likely to be worse, because an estimated 50% of all children with cancer never get a diagnosis.
