Today, Tuesday 15 February 2022, marks International Childhood Cancer Day; in Luxembourg, the Fondatioun Kriibskrank Kanner charity has been supporting children suffering from cancer, together with their families, for more than 30 years.
One out of 300 newborns will develop cancer before their 20th birthday and every year nearly 6,000 children die from cancer in Europe. In 2021, Fondatioun Kriibskrank Kanner assisted 255 families, including 40 new patients, in Luxembourg.
The charity's multidisciplinary team ensures family care upon diagnosis throughout the treatment period and beyond remission to mourning support, depending on the needs of those affected. It intervenes at different levels and offers psychological support according to different approaches and tools of work, social assistance, an educational offer, neuropsychological and school support, home assistance, administrative and financial support and events. Each family creates its own path, through the varied offers proposed.
Fondatioun Kriibskrank Kanner makes three infrastructures available to the families concerned: the "Maison des Enfants" (children's house) in Strassen, the "Appartement de Convalescence" (apartment of convalescence) on the Belgian coast and "Maison Losch, Maison des Parents" (parents' house) in Brussels, Belgium, where families can stay during periods when their child is hospitalised.
The year 2022 will see the charity strengthen its team as part of the redevelopment of the patient pathway. 2022 also marks the launch of the 5th edition of the solidarity race Lëtz GO Gold which raises money for onco-paediatric research projects. Moreover, the charity will actively participate in the second national cancer plan to develop the national paediatric onco-hematology service, a structure offering peadiatric palliative care, taking into account the school needs of adolescents throughout their illness and a better transition between paediatric and adult oncology.
Activity at the European level is also set to be intense as a result of "Europe's Beating Cancer Plan", which provides for a chapter dedicated to paediatric cancers.
Fondatioun Kriibskrank Kanner, recognised as a public utility, only works through donations. Its annual accounts are audited each year and it also complies with the code of good conduct of an "ASBL" (non-profit organisation).
