COVID-19 and pediatric oncology: Where do we go from
here?
COVID-19 has impacted the entire world. Beyond its staggering toll on
the health and survival of multitudes of people, COVID-19 will continue
to impact many more millions of people given the need to restructure
life in response to an evolving pandemic. Adaptation to change requires
flexibility in approaches for continuing pediatric oncology care and
research, some of which may be carried forward given their potential
longer-term value as measured by improved efficiency, decreased burden
to families, cost reduction, and ultimately new growth opportunities
(Table 5 ).
The health crisis caused by COVID-19 warrants both scientific
collaboration and reallocation of resources to contain its spread and to
eradicate the disease entirely. However, other significant health care
crises remain and potentially may be exacerbated by COVID-19, both
directly by the virus itself or indirectly by the changes in life that
the virus has caused. To this end, pediatric cancer remains the primary
disease-related cause for mortality in children. Therefore, we must not
lose focus on the need to continue to support, both scientifically and
financially, research that is vital to discovering potential cures for
pediatric cancer both to minimize the negative impact of COVID-19 and to
leverage the lessons learned to make us better than before. Not
fulfilling these missions jeopardizes the future of children with
cancer, their families, and their communities.