Ethiopian National Retinoblastoma Guidelines for Care

Abstract

Retinoblastoma is a rare childhood eye cancer with a promising outcome upon early detection and treatment.The survival rate in developed countries is more than 99%. In Ethiopia, our previous published studies showedthat 47% of them died from cancer. Retinoblastoma is one of the focus areas of the WHO under Global Initiatives for Childhood Cancer. To catch up with the global initiatives in May 2018, we conducted the first retinoblastoma symposium in Ethiopia by hosting various ophthalmologists, paediatric oncologists, pathologists, parents, and support groups. Leaders and experts (focal eye care and disease control) from the Federal Ministry of Health led the symposium. Worldknown retinoblastoma experts from Canada, the USA, and Kenya participated in this symposium and shared knowledge on developing retinoblastoma guidelines. At the end of the two-day meeting, a technical group comprising ophthalmologists, paediatric oncologists, pathologists, public health experts, parents with retinoblastoma, and organizations supporting children with cancer was established to develop a national retinoblastoma guidelines. This team has worked on this guidelines to promote early cancer detection, smooth referral systems between institutions, standardize clinical care among health facilities, and support families and children with retinoblastoma. This guideline was reviewed, commented and enriched by experts in retinoblastoma from Canada, Kenya, Israel, DRC, and France. This guideline will be the second for the sub-Saharan African region. It is also endorsed by the Federal Ministry of Health and to be implemented among all sectors and stakeholders.