Premier Ford and Minister Jones join POGO to launch new roadmap to strengthen Ontario’s world-class childhood cancer care system
Ontario’s new five-year Childhood Cancer Care Plan, produced by the Pediatric Oncology Group of Ontario (POGO) and its partners, builds on strong, province-wide coordination to deliver wrap-around care and support for children, youth, survivors and families at every step of the childhood cancer journey.
September 23, 2024, Toronto, ON – Premier Doug Ford and Minister of Health Sylvia Jones recently joined POGO to launch the Childhood Cancer Care Plan: A Roadmap for Ontario 2024-2029. Published by POGO and its partners, the Plan leverages strong collaboration and coordination across the province to ensure wrap-around care and support for children and youth with cancer, survivors and families at every step of the childhood cancer journey. With support from the Government of Ontario, this new roadmap will continue to strengthen the province’s world-class childhood cancer system.
“Unfortunately, too many families here in Ontario are faced with the harsh reality of childhood cancers,” says Premier Doug Ford. “It's a terrible disease that impacts not just the children, but their entire family. We're incredibly grateful for the outstanding work that POGO does to support these families, ensuring they have access to the care they need, when and where they need it.”
“We thank POGO for your dedication, for your leadership and collaboration, for everything you do to support children and their families facing a cancer diagnosis,” says Health Minister Sylvia Jones. “I look forward to our continued work to ensure families have access to the best possible treatment and care throughout their journey.”
POGO works to ensure that everyone affected by childhood cancer has access to the best care and support. Informed by diverse voices from across the childhood cancer community, the Plan has priorities which focus on bringing care closer to home, ensuring survivor well-being, harnessing data, improving access to drugs and therapies, and enhancing the availability of mental health and financial supports for families.
Sam Taylor’s daughter, Ellie, was diagnosed with rhabdomyosarcoma, a soft tissue cancer, at age 10. “Shortly after Ellie’s diagnosis, we were connected with a POGO Interlink Nurse, an invaluable resource who guided us through the hospital system and helped us understand the unfamiliar world of childhood cancer,” says Sam Taylor. “Through her visits to our home and Ellie’s school, we knew we were in good hands. And when the time was right, the nurse helped us with the transition to care closer to home at the POGO Satellite Clinic at our local community hospital. This meant more time for Ellie with her friends and brother and a lot less time on the road. The POGO Satellite quickly became a second home for our family—an inviting place with an incredible staff where Ellie felt safe and relaxed, and where we, as her parents, felt reassured that she was receiving the best possible care.”
“Ontario’s childhood cancer care system is considered one of the best in the world, and we have the opportunity to make it even better by addressing current challenges and thinking ahead to navigate future demands,” says James Scongack, Chair of the POGO Board of Directors. “On behalf of POGO and our partners, I want to thank the Government of Ontario for its support, and its commitment to improving the lives of thousands of kids and families across Ontario dealing with this devastating disease.”
“There is exceptional pride in the quality and accessibility of Ontario’s childhood cancer care system. This is made possible by a shared vision of excellence across our incredible community,” says Lauren Ettin, Chief Executive Officer of POGO. “Working together, we can continue building on our collective success, so that children and youth with cancer, survivors and families can count on having the treatments, resources and supports they need, now – and for life.”
Download and share the Childhood Cancer Care Plan: A Roadmap for Ontario 2024-2029.
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About Pediatric Oncology Group of Ontario (POGO)
Pediatric Oncology Group of Ontario (POGO) works to ensure that everyone affected by childhood cancer has access to the best care and support. We partner to achieve an excellent childhood cancer care system for children, youth, survivors, and their families and healthcare teams, in Ontario and beyond. POGO champions childhood cancer care, and as the collective voice of this community, is the official advisor to Ontario’s Ministry of Health on children’s cancer control and treatment. POGO is a non-profit organization with charitable status, here for kids with cancer, for now, for life.
Media Contact
Jacqui DeBique
Senior Manager, Communications
Pediatric Oncology Group of Ontario (POGO)
416-592-1232 ext. 266
Childhood Cancer is a Lifelong Journey
Appearing in Metroland publications, September 17, 2024
While more kids are being diagnosed with cancer, more are surviving. Ontario’s childhood cancer survival rate is now 85 per cent — up from about 70 per cent in the mid-1980s. And while surviving cancer is certainly the goal, the impacts of childhood cancer can last a lifetime.
Richard Lautens Toronto Star file photo
By Lauren Ettin and Dr. David Hodgson
Lauren Ettin is the chief executive officer of the Pediatric Oncology Group of Ontario. Dr. David Hodgson is the medical director and chair in childhood cancer control for the Pediatric Oncology Group of Ontario, a radiation oncologist and clinician scientist at the Princess Margaret Cancer Centre, and associate staff at The Hospital for Sick Children.
Life for the Pugliese family changed forever when six-year-old Giacomo was diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic leukemia. For three years, they made countless trips to McMaster Children’s Hospital, watching their once-energetic little boy endure the challenges of cancer treatment, with interruptions to school and play dates.
Now 17, Giacomo’s treatment is behind him, but he is monitored regularly at the Pediatric Oncology Group of Ontario (POGO) AfterCare Clinic at McMaster Children’s Hospital for secondary cancers and heart issues — risks from his cancer and treatment. The clinic staff also emphasize the importance of a healthy, active lifestyle. His family is reassured that Giacomo will receive this crucial care for the rest of his life.
POGO’s network of clinics across Ontario play a vital role in the ongoing care of childhood cancer survivors, becoming an essential part of their lifelong health journey.
September is Childhood Cancer Awareness Month, a time to spotlight stories like Giacomo’s, which are increasingly common in Ontario.
While more kids are being diagnosed with cancer, more are surviving. Ontario’s childhood cancer survival rate is now 85 per cent — up from about 70 per cent in the mid-1980s. This is thanks to decades of clinical innovation, improvements in diagnostics and treatments, and approaches to addressing some of the related side effects.
While surviving cancer is certainly the goal, it is not where the journey ends. The impacts of childhood cancer can last a lifetime.
Childhood cancers are distinct from adult cancers in significant ways. For one thing, these cancers don’t result from lifestyle or diet. They come suddenly — and some are more likely to strike at a specific age. Typically, childhood cancers require intensive treatments, at major teaching hospitals, with highly specialized protocols. Consequently, care teams may be larger and include parents and caregivers as key decision makers.
A childhood cancer diagnosis impacts the whole family. One parent is often forced to give up work to manage the daily practicalities of their child’s care. Often, extensive travel or temporary relocation is required, uprooting families for months or sometimes years. This disruption reverberates, impacting extended family members, friends, teachers, classmates, work colleagues and communities.
Childhood cancers strike during a critical phase of development, when children and adolescents are marking key physical, mental and social milestones. As a result, two of every three survivors are at increased risk of at least one long-term side effect resulting from their cancer or its treatment, including heart disease, second cancers and cognitive challenges.
To address the unique complexities, ripple effects and long-term impacts of childhood cancer, POGO and its partners have built a system that provides wraparound care and support for children and families at every stage of the journey. Considered among the best in the world, Ontario’s childhood cancer system goes beyond diagnosis and treatment. Families are paired with nurses who help navigate the transition from hospital to home, and they can also access mental health services, financial supports, and programs that help survivors thrive into adulthood.
During Childhood Cancer Awareness Month, it’s important to recognize the tremendous progress made in childhood cancer care. But there is more we can do to ensure kids not only survive, but thrive.
It is vital that children with cancer and their families have access to the best evidence-based treatments and supports, closer to home. This requires strong, ongoing collaboration between care teams, hospitals, nonprofits, government, regulatory bodies, industry and others.
Over the past decade, we have also seen an increasing need for mental health services, a need that is urgently felt among the many who are impacted by a childhood cancer diagnosis. These priorities and others will be key components of Ontario’s Childhood Cancer Care Plan 2024-2029, a road map developed by POGO and its partners to be published later this month.
Ontario must continue strengthening its world-class childhood cancer system so that survivors like Giacomo can count on having the treatments, resources and supports they need today — and for life.
