Launched in 2013, the SickKids-Caribbean Initiative (SCI) focuses on building sustainable, local capacity to diagnose, treat, and manage pediatric cancers and blood disorders in the region. As an early step in creating SCI, partnerships were formalized between the SickKids Centre for Global Child Health and key stakeholders, the University of the West Indies, Ministries of Health, hospitals, and institutions, in 6 Caribbean countries: the Bahamas, Barbados, Jamaica, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, and Trinidad and Tobago.
SCI objectives
Improve the diagnosis and subsequent management of pediatric patients with cancer and blood disorders.
Provide training and education in the areas of hematology/oncology, nursing, and laboratory services based on expressed needs of Caribbean partners.
Establish best practices and improve health outcomes through the development and maintenance of local hospital-based pediatric oncology databases and treatment protocols adapted for local use.
Establish an integrated and sustainable communication structure for bidirectional education among local partners, creating and enhancing a regional community of practice.
SCI impact
Improved access to services for children in the Caribbean with cancer and blood disorders.
Increased capacity for Caribbean partners to provide timely, accurate diagnoses and high-quality follow-up care.
Strengthened infrastructure that enhances the capacity to care for children with cancer and blood disorders.
Indirect benefits for other users of health systems in the region.
Robust knowledge exchange and new regional and global linkages established, fostering a sustainable community of practice in the region.
Reproduced from the SickKids-Caribbean Initiative (SCI) Annual Progress Report 2016-2017.
Reproduced from the SickKids-Caribbean Initiative (SCI) Annual Progress Report 2016-2017.
Acknowledgment: The SickKids-Caribbean Initiative is supported by the SickKids Foundation.
Conflict-of-interest disclosure: No competing financial interests declared.
