Non-profit transport group Little Wings is extending a helping hand to Hastings families following reports that the number of children diagnosed with cancer will increase.
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The overall incidence rate of childhood cancer increased by 1.2 per cent between 1983 and 2015, according to the Medical Journal of Australia.
The overall annual cancer incidence rate is expected to increase by a further seven per cent over the next two decades. The rate of childhood cancer is predicted to reach 1,060 cases per year by 2035.
"We have just done a social impact study which quoted around the increase in child cancers of 804 across the country," said Little Wings chief executive Clare Pearson.
"Increasing numbers of children with cancer is always concerning but this could be because we are better at diagnosing. We are seeing more cancers in young children such as brain tumors and Leukemia (blood cancer).
"From that study we also found that children respond better to treatment if they are able to recover at home (after visiting hospital)."
The charity provides flight and ground transport services for sick children in regional NSW to ease the financial burden, emotional strain and travel fatigue of long-distance medical treatment.
Transport is available for children at age 18 and under, who suffer from a chronic or terminal illness. Children must live at least three hours drive outside Sydney and be referred to the service through hospital staff.
The group supported 22 families in Port Macquarie in 2018 and supported 25 families in 2019.
"A lot of children we support have their auto-immune system suppressed and that means they cannot travel on public transport the same as you or I," said Ms Pearson.
"They cannot be exposed to any kinds of bugs (flu or sickness) because it could lead to a life threatening situation.
"We also see a lot of children that are coming from burns unit or have neurological needs which means they are not able to sit in a plane or be driven for a long time.
"If they are only going down for one day of treatment we can fly them down and back so they don't have to be away from home for long periods.
"During our flight they get on at the airport, we fly straight to the destination and drop them off. It's a door-to-door service to take that worry and burden off the families."
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