A recent virtual meeting between Megan Webber, Co-Founder of KnowTheGlow, Ruth Ngaruiya, program manager for Africa at KnowTheGlow, and Akua Sarpong, Co-Founder and executive director of Lifeline for Childhood Cancer Ghana (LCCG), along with Portia, the organization’s programs manager, revealed a powerful shared mission of saving children’s lives through early detection and comprehensive care. The conversation quickly shifted from introductions to the pressing challenges of improving pediatric cancer outcomes across Africa.
Akua’s motivation to help establish LCCG was inspired by a personal tragedy where she lost her oldest daughter to rhabdomyosarcoma and by the children they serve, with the foundation’s mission built on innovative strategies for early detection and full-spectrum support. Founded in 2018, when Ghana’s national health insurance offered no cancer coverage, Lifeline for Childhood Cancer Ghana became a true lifeline for desperate families. “Parents were taking children home to die because they couldn’t afford treatment,” Akua shared. Today, the organization funds chemotherapy and surgeries, covers diagnostic scans, provides nutrition programs, hosts families in their hostel, and even runs hospital schools. “Cancer isn’t just clinical; it’s psychological and social. We support the whole journey,” she stressed.
A key part of LCCG’s work is empowering the Ghanaian public to understand the early warning signs and symptoms of childhood cancer. ‘ our biggest challenge is the late stage presentation at our various centres. And this is because parents and caregivers are not aware of what child cancer looks like or sounds like. By education and awareness creation, on early warning signs of cancer, such as persistent headaches, they can encourage parents to seek medical help sooner.
LCCG’s impact is clear. The organization has helped more than 2,600 children, including five-year-old Adipa, whose “cat-like” eyes in dim light, first noticed by her mother, led to early retinoblastoma detection and successful treatment. There is also the story of Bright, a Wilms tumor patient who was first taken to traditional healers. When his condition worsened he was given weeks to live and he was transferred from Tamale Teaching Hospital to Korle Bu Teaching Hospital where he continued getting treatment while staying with Lifeline for 17 months, he is now thriving at age 14. ‘We are grateful to partners such as World Child Cancer Ghana and St Jude Children Research Hospital for their support and alliances on this journey’.
Despite these successes, challenges remain. Akua described heartbreaking realities: traditional healers are often the first stop for families. Ghana is a hugely religious country. Traditional beliefs and cultural practices impinge on our way of life.Rather than opposing traditional healers and religious leaders, LCCG partners with them, offering education on cancer symptoms to ensure that they are partners on this journey with early detections and better outcomes for children with cancer. Megan Webber praised this holistic model, noting that it addresses late diagnosis and treatment abandonment, the two primary reasons for poor outcomes in retinoblastoma cases.
Currently, only four childhood cancers are covered by Ghana’s National Health Insurance Scheme. By tackling financial, transportation, and housing barriers, Lifeline’s 360-degree support system makes long-term treatment possible for families who might otherwise give up.
To expand its impact, Lifeline is building the first stand alone 40-bed pediatric oncology treatment centre in Korle Bu Teaching Hospital which is currently in the roofing stage. The facility will include isolation rooms, consulting spaces, and dedicated counseling areas, serving as a safe haven for children and families. Beyond medical treatment, Lifeline is committed to education, offering lessons in numeracy and literacy and providing tablets loaded with the national curriculum. Creativity is also nurtured through art programs, highlighted in a recent exhibition that both celebrated the children’s talent and raised funds for the organization. The hospital is expected to be completed by the end of 2026, with a palliative care unit planned for the future.
The synergy between the two organizations was clear. KnowTheGlow’s Ghana awareness materials, translated into Akan and Dagbani, resonated strongly with Akua, who envisioned them as part of her school awareness programs: “Children can tell their parents, ‘I learned this symptom is serious” and that’s powerful. The conversation closed with a shared commitment to action. KTG pledged to help amplify LCCG’s stories and impact, while both left the call with the same conviction: informed families and early detection can change the course of a child’s life.
