September Is The Childhood Cancer Awareness Month

H&B Joins Efforts In Raising Awareness On Childhood Cancer

September’s Childhood Cancer Awareness Month is a time to focus our attention on the crude reality of childhood cancer. We at H&B wish to emphasize the importance of life-saving research and join together to make a difference for children diagnosed with any type of cancer. The situation is truly dire – the incidence rates are on the rise, and cancer remains the number one cause of death by disease for children. 

Childhood cancer is a common worry among parents. Even though there are many different types of childhood cancer, the risk for anyone’s child to have cancer is fairly low and cancer is considered to be rare in children. Altogether, there are solely about 150 cases of childhood cancer for every 1 million children in the United States. But, cancer is still one of the leading causes of death in children, so it is very important to be aware of the signs and symptoms of cancer in children.

Most Common Kinds Of Childhood Cancer

The widespread use of ribbons as symbolic representations of a particular public message or campaign in America began during the Iran hostage negotiations. The yellow ribbon became a medium to spread the message of hope, solidarity, and awareness about that crisis. Since then, ribbons have played a powerful role in countless awareness campaigns.

Childhood should be a time of joy, laughter, innocence, and wonder. According to the American Childhood Cancer Organization, nearly 16,000 people younger than 21 years are diagnosed with cancer every year in the United States. About one in four of them will not survive the disease. According to the National Cancer Institute Trusted Source, the most common types of cancer in children are acute lymphocytic leukemia, neuroblastoma, and brain and other nervous system tumors. Many of these cancer types have their support organizations and advocacy groups, but September is reserved for childhood cancers of all types. During National Childhood Cancer Awareness Month, we at H&B recognize the courage and strength of the brave children battling a cancer diagnosis.

A Short History Of The Gold Ribbon

Over the last 50 years, substantial progress has been made in the diagnosis and treatment of several types of childhood cancer.  Approximately 20 years ago, the gold ribbon was chosen to serve as the universal symbol for Childhood Cancer Awareness by CCCF board member Gigi Thorsen and a group of parents whose lives had been affected by childhood cancer.

Although many colors were considered at the time, gold was finally agreed upon as the ideal choice for childhood cancer awareness. This is because gold is a precious metal, which makes it the perfect color to reflect the most valuable thing on earth—our children.

The CCCF funded production of the first gold ribbons in 1997, and thanks to the dedication and commitment of this group of parents during the early years of this organization, the gold ribbon has now become an internationally-recognized symbol for childhood cancer awareness.

Today, the ACCO continues to utilize the emblematic power of the gold ribbon to build momentum for their campaigns, allowing individuals from all over the world to unite in solidarity behind this symbol and to join in the fight for the elimination of all kinds of childhood cancer.

Keep An Eye Out For Any Known Symptoms

Dr. Shyamali advises parents to, whatever the symptoms their child has, tell their pediatrician about any worries that the child might have cancer. It might be that the concern is based on a real issue, or your doctor might at least be able to put you at ease that your child is healthy and cancer-free. This will be accomplished either with a good history and physical examination, or a few screening tests.

People feel like they can’t do anything to help an issue as big as childhood cancer, but we all can do something, even if it’s just something small. If every one of us did something small, just imagine where we’d be.