In North Uganda Soleterre collaborates with the pediatrics of Lacor Hospital which guarantees medical services at accessible prices. It has opened and runs a Halfway House in which children with cancer and their parents can peacefully recover.
Approximately 1,650 new cases of childhood cancer are diagnosed each year in Uganda, but the mortality rate reaches around 80%. The main causes for such a high mortality are the lack of adequate treatment and treatment at affordable costs, as well as a limited number of centers of reference and skilled personnel.
Soleterre since 2014 has developed a partnership with St. Mary’s Hospital Lacor, a private non-profit
hospital, who aims at is to provide affordable medical services, especially to the necessitous. The hospital is the only center of reference for North Uganda and South Sudan and is continuously overcrowded.
To overcome this problem, Soleterre encouraged the opening of a Halfway House for families and children who need to undergo cancer treatment, consequently freeing beds in the ward and relieving families of housing costs that often make the difference between life and death.
In addition, Soleterre is committed to raising community awareness of Burkitt’s lymphoma, the most widespread childhood cancer in Uganda, which, although highly treatable, still shows unacceptable mortality rates. The activities aim to facilitate the detection of the disease at an early stage and ensure the completion of chemotherapy and the reduction of the risk of collateral diseases and infections, to increase the chances of survival of children affected by lymphoma.