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Can children suffer from brain tumours?

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Duke-NUS students hold fifth Paediatric Brain and Solid Tumour Awareness Day to increase public awareness of the cancer

Many Singaporeans have heard of leukaemia, the most common form of cancer in children in the world and in Singapore. But what about paediatric brain tumours?

According to Dr David Low, Adjunct Assistant Professor at Duke-NUS Medical School, a lot of the research over the last few decades have focused on leukaemia but not so much on brain tumours.

He told The New Paper: "Research on brain and solid tumours has lagged behind, leading to lower success rates in their treatments compared with leukaemia."

This lack of awareness inspired students from the Duke-NUS Medical School to launch the Paediatric Brain and Solid Tumour Awareness (PBSTA) event in 2014.

PBSTA Day aims to increase public awareness of the challenges faced by the affected children and their families.

The fifth anniversary of PBSTA Day was held on Saturday last week with 60 children and their families gathered at the Marina Barrage to commemorate the event.

Mr Mark Goh Sen Liang, 27, one of the eight second-year students who ran the event, told TNP that his decision to champion this cause arose partly from his seven-year volunteer experience at camps organised by the Shaw-NKF-NUH Children's Kidney Centre.

He said: "I have seen how psycho-social support, on top of medication, can change how children deal with their illnesses.

"Through this event, I hope to be able to form the same community around this group of children."

Founder of PBSTA Day and Duke-NUS alumnus, Dr Joshua Chua, shared that when he initiated the event, there was not much support for children with paediatric brain tumours.

He said: "They often have to walk this path without significant support from outside their immediate family and friends."

Dr Chua hopes these continuing efforts will move other Singaporeans to advocate for the interests of the affected families and develop support for non-profits such as the Brain Tumour Society.

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