The work of a paediatrician who worked in Galway some years ago and who went on to set up a childhood cancer charity in Tanzania will be honoured and supported by a glittering Ball to be held in the city this weekend.
The event to honour the Their Lives Matter charity founder Dr Trish Scanlan has been organised by her friends and colleagues Dr Orla Flanagan, paediatrician; Dr Siobhan McDonagh, GP, Prospect Hill; and Ciara Power of Aerogen and will be held in The Galmont on Saturday.
Dr Siobhan McDonagh, a board member of the charity, said that the purpose of this ball is to raiseawareness and funding for the charitable organisation, Their Lives Matter, of which she is a board member.
Their Lives Matter is a charity set up in June 2015 to raise much needed funds to support the treatment of children with cancer in Tanzania. Our goals are to ensure that all children living in Tanzania who develop cancer are diagnosed in a timely fashion to enable treatment with curative intent and have appropriate access to good quality paediatric oncology services.
Childhood cancer services in Tanzania began in one small ward with three nurses and one doctor. In 2006 this small team were joined by an Irish doctor called Dr. Trish Scanlan. Dr. Scanlan is originally from Bray, Co. Wicklow. She graduated from University College Dublin in 1997 and went on to specialise in Paediatric Haematology and Oncology.
She did the majority of her training in Our Ladys’ Children’s Hospital Crumlin, but tells everyone her happiest year so far was spent working in University Hospital Galway. In Ireland 90% of childhood cancer cases survive; when Dr Trish first arrived in Tanzania in 2006 only 5% of children in need (120 of the 2500 predicted ) were formally diagnosed and even among these children 9 out of 10 died. Since then, she has been working alongside her incredible Tanzanian colleagues and what has been achieved is really quite remarkable.
Paediatric cancer treatment in Tanzania is now delivered at 14 hospitals across the country with aims to have 30 collaborative sites within the next five years; all treatment sites are coordinated and supported by Their Lives Matter’s Tanzanian sister charity. For example: the chemotherapy for every child in all of Tanzania is provided and paid for by Their Lives Matter. In 2022 950 children were diagnosed with cancer and offered care at one of the National Network sites. Survival rates are above 50% and rising.
Other examples of the charity’s achievements include: creating a MSc training programme in paediatric haematology and oncology from which local experts are now emerging, building a 12 bedded paediatric intensive care unit, a 22 bedded hostel and a 65 bedded oncology ward; and creating a whole foods-based nutritional service for children with severe acute malnutrition
She has also established a formal partnership between Muhimbili National Hospital and Children’s Health Ireland, which continues to this day. She received a UCD Medical Alumni Award in 2014, the RCPI 2019 medal for paediatric excellence and in 2022 an honorary Doctorate of Science awarded by the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland (RCSI ) in recognition of all her work.
Some of the members of the Their Lives Matter committee, have spent time working with Dr. Scanlan in Tanzania and have witnessed the amazing work she has done to date.
In order to continue her fantastic work, Dr. Scanlan needs ongoing fundraising support to provide the necessary treatments that these children require, including chemotherapy, radiotherapy, scans and other life-saving medicines treatments and supports.
If you would like to read more about our charity and the work that Dr. Scanlan does, please visit www.wearetlm.org
