The mission of the St. Jude International Outreach Program is to improve the survival rates of children with cancer and other life-threatening diseases worldwide. We accomplish this by:
- Sharing knowledge, technology and organizational skills
- Implementing new approaches to treat pediatric cancer globally
- Generating international networks committed to eradicating cancer in children
These international efforts are critical to winning our global fight against childhood cancer. Each year, an estimated 175,000 children age 14 or younger are newly diagnosed with cancer. Fewer than half survive. The large majority of these children live in low- and middle-income countries, often in areas without access to adequate diagnosis and treatment.
What we do
St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital works with institutions in low- and middle-income countries to sustainably improve local pediatric cancer care. We work with our partners and collaborators to:
- Develop evidence-based treatment protocols tailored to regional needs and resources
- Train doctors, nurses and other health care professionals in clinical care best practices
- Improve clinical care and outcomes through increased quality, capacity and capability of diagnostic pathology and clinical laboratory medicine
- Reduce infection rates by implementing more effective infection prevention, control and care measures
- Implement institutional pediatric cancer registries and data management best practices to understand the regional burden of pediatric cancer and help determine which treatments are most effective
These initiatives are spearheaded by St. Jude experts who work closely with health care professionals at our partner sites.
Additionally, ALSAC, the fundraising organization for St. Jude, collaborates with partners’ affiliated pediatric cancer foundations to improve local fundraising efforts and advocacy for pediatric cancer treatment.
Who we work with
Explore our partner sites and networks around the world.
Who we are
Learn more about the International Outreach Program
Related Topics
Selected Success Stories
El Salvador: Increased survival rate for children with acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL), the most common childhood cancer, from approximately 5% in 1993 to 48% in 2000
Brazil (Recife): Increased survival rate for children with ALL from 32% in the 1980s to 63% in 2002
China: Demonstrated successful outcomes using low-cost treatment for children with ALL, catalyzing governmental policy changes to substantially increase funding for childhood cancer treatment
Honduras (Tegucigalpa): Implemented early detection campaigns for retinoblastoma that effectively reduced late diagnoses of the disease from 73% to 35%
Lebanon: Developed a regional pediatric hematology-oncology network to enhance cancer care for all children in the Middle East and Mediterranean
Morocco (Rabat): Increased survival rate for children with Hodgkin lymphoma from 43% in 2000 to 70% in 2013