Research has shown the five-year survival rate of childhood cancer in HICs is 80%, while the survival rate in LMICs is around 30%. This gap may be partially attributed to treatment abandonment of pediatric patients due to stigma/false beliefs about cancer. Stigma may influence a patient’s decision to present for cancer care or treatment. To curb untrue or negative beliefs about childhood cancer, this research is necessary to find what stigma pediatric cancer patients and their caregivers face. The objective of this study is to identify the types of perceived stigma pediatric cancer patients who have completed treatment and their caregivers’ have experienced from community members in Mwanza, Tanzania. 

Focus group discussion (FGD) and in-depth interview (IDI) guides were created to explore major areas of stigma including from community and individual standpoints. These areas include avoidance, severity awkwardness, personal responsibility, self-stigma etc. Participants were chosen through convenience sampling with an emphasis on including diversity in multiple factors including gender, age, type of cancer, time since treatment, and region of Mwanza. FGDs and IDIs were conducted in Swahili between July 13, 2022 and July 22, 2022 at BugandoMedical Center in Mwanza, Tanzania.

All transcripts were transcribed and translated into English. Data will be coded and qualitatively analyzed for thematic content with the support of NVIVO12 software. Major aspects of stigma will be identified in participants responses as well as emergent aspects of stigma that have not yet been documented in the literature. 

Insights gained from this project will be used to create culturally and contextually relevant awareness interventions to decrease stigma towards childhood cancer and increase cancer health-seeking behaviour in Tanzanian communities.