A film on the front lines of pediatric oncology that follows families, patients, and healthcare providers as they live with, battle against and cure childhood cancer in the developing world.

 

The diagnosis of a child with cancer is a traumatic event in the lives of patients and their families. As devastating as that diagnosis is, imagine receiving that diagnosis in a resource poor country; for these children the trauma of diagnosis is often exacerbated by the serious limitations of medical resources in their home country.  The treatment of childhood cancer in high-income countries is largely viewed as a success story, with survival rates at 80 %. By contrast, in Low and Middle Income Countries (LMICs), the survival rate averages just 20% for children with cancer. What are the reasons for the disparity in survival rates? How have some LMICs been able to increase their survival rates to those on nearly on par with high income countries? What are the healthcare systems and who are the people respobsible for these increased survival rates?  These are some of the questions that How I Live  will examine.

 

 

How I Live  will chronicle the journey of five children with cancer in low and middle-income countries. Following their journeys from diagnosis through treatment, the complex issues facing patients, families and healthcare providers emerge. Verite style filmmaking provides a window into both the interpersonal networks and healthcare systems that support and guide families through treatment.   

 

Weaving together stories of children from diverse locations, socio-economic backgrounds and cultures unified by an experience of cancer, the film is a composite of; global pediatric oncology, the power of parents’ love, children’s courage, the commitment of healthcare providers, and what is possible when a community is dedicated to treating and some-day curing childhood cancer.