Most parents don’t even want to think about it, but in this month of Childhood Cancer Awareness, we are reminded that dread disease does not discriminate between ages and our children are as subject to cancers as we are.

According to a Government report, ‘’Child cancer is highly curable with survival rates of around 80% in developed countries yet in low and middle-income countries tens of thousands of children die needlessly every year from the disease – most dying without any effective pain relief.’’

Little wonder that there needs to be awareness of this, as there is a good chance of survival for those of us lucky enough to be able to take precautions to prevent childhood cancers from being fatal.

What can we do?

An excellent organisation known as World Cancer, who work tirelessly to save children with cancer all over the world, focus their attention on four primary areas which can help all of us take the right approach to childhood cancer if it happens in our own families. These are…

1. Improving treatment – Ensure you are financially able to provide the best treatment if the time comes.
2. Family support – Are you in a position to ensure that the family will all be able to rally behind and care for the child?
3. Early diagnosis – Be aware of your children’s health and seek immediate medical advice if you detect anything untoward.
4. Advocacy – We all need to give childhood cancer the attention it deserves.

Financial support is critical

What this illustrates is that any member of the family contracting a dread disease can have devastating financial implications and seriously erode one’s savings and investments if your family is not fully covered against such events.

Dread disease cover for everyone, not just the breadwinners, is important and consider an income protection policy for any breadwinner possibly confined to the home as a caregiver for a critically ill child.

Seek our advice

Hereford Group have highly trained Financial Advisors who take every aspect of financial growth and protection into account when devising a wealth creation profile, so talk to us. We are there for you through the good, the bad and especially the unexpected!