Partnering to help children in Tanzania to survive cancer
18 December 2019
A donation from leading temperature control packaging company Softbox Systems has enabled the charity International Health Partners (IHP) to deliver cold-chain oncology medicines, giving children in Tanzania the chance to recover from cancer.
The recent donation of a temperature control pallet shipper enabled IHP to send cytotoxic (chemotherapy) medicines to TLM, its aid partner in Dar es Salaam. These were used to treat Kanoni, a two-year-old patient, who is now free of cancer.
Last December, Kanoni was admitted to hospital with a huge abdominal mass and severe pain. A CT scan and tests revealed that she had a kidney tumour. “When the lab investigated, it found her cancer was high-risk, and she needed medicine that could only be transported through cold-chain packaging,” explained Colleen Harrisson-Dodds, Logistics Director for IHP.
Previously, IHP and Softbox Systems have collaborated to send more than 2,000 treatments to Tanzania. Softbox donated its award-winning Silverpod pallet shipper, which enables the shipment of bulk consignments of goods, and can maintain product temperature stability for up to 120 hours.
Kanoni completed her treatment last month, and scans show the cancer has gone. “We’ve seen a remarkable improvement in her condition,” said Lilian Nydyetabula, the chief operating officer of TLM, which helped establish Tanzania’s first paediatric oncology service. “She gained weight and was able to move around and play with other children. Now, Kanoni is a totally different child from the one who arrived last December.”
Softbox Systems is a market leader that has won acclaim for its emphasis on high performance, sustainable and user-friendly packaging solutions. “It’s a pleasure to support IHP and rewarding to know that our packaging systems enabled the safe transportation of Kanoni’s life-saving treatment,” said Clive Bryant, Global Product and Marketing Director at Softbox Systems. “Our award-winning Silverpod range means that temperature-sensitive medicines arrive in perfect condition and ultimately save lives. We’re always looking for ways to enhance our products to facilitate the successful delivery of life-saving medicines all around the world.”
IHP is a leading coordinator of donated essential medicines, working with healthcare companies, logistics providers and aid agencies. Adele Paterson, CEO, said: “This is a wonderful example of the way we partner proactively. We’re delighted to work with Softbox Systems to enable the delivery of high-quality medicines to vulnerable people.”
Notes for editors:
Tanzania is four times larger than the UK. Of a population of 59 million people, nearly half are aged 15 or under. However, an estimated 5% of children born in Tanzania don’t reach their fifth birthday.
The country sees an estimated 4,200 cases of childhood cancer arise each year. Until recently, it had just one facility to treat children, at the government-run national hospital in Dar es Salaam.
In Tanzania in 2007, the survival rate for diagnosed children was just 12% (compared with 85% in resource-rich countries such as the UK and US), though this is improving.
TLM chief operating officer Lilian Nydyetabula explains: “With limited resources, cancer treatment and care is still minimal. We work in partnership with the hospital to provide treatment to all children free of charge, within the hospital and at partner sites.”
Please contact Richard Insley at IHP on +44 (0)203 7355489 or r.insley@ihpuk.org for further details and images.
For more information about IHP: www.ihpuk.org
About Softbox
Softbox is an award-winning temperature control packaging innovator that has been designing and producing high performance passive temperature control packaging solutions for over 20 years. We offer consistent quality to our clients from our strategically located global manufacturing sites throughout Europe, North America, Latin America and Asia Pacific.
We have formed long standing partnerships with the world’s leading pharmaceutical, clinical research, biotech and logistics companies, and apply innovative thinking to overcome the challenges that our clients face in managing the cold chain when shipping temperature sensitive clinical trial and commercialised products.
For more information about Softbox visit: www.softboxsystems.com
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Lisa Preston, Amplify PR
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