Portraits of children with leukemia in itself create a strong emotional response. Knowing one of these children died just hours after these photographs were taken, makes these images more haunting and pertinent.

Although statistics are hard to come by, it is estimated by health professionals that 6,000 children die of cancer each year, particularly from leukemia the commonest form of childhood cancer. Saddest of all however, is that leukemia, a type of blood cancer, is treatable. Given the proper facilities and timely detection, upto 70 percent of leukemia cases could be cured.

However, in the whole country there are fewer than 40 hospital beds available for treating children with cancer, and all of those are in Dhaka. Moreover along with treatment facilities, specialist doctors or oncologists trained to deal with childhood cancer are rare. Those who live outside the capital, especially the poor, rarely have any access to the treatment that could save their children.

All too often, the illness is misdiagnosed or goes untreated as a result of all these factors. Only 5 percent of children with leukemia are treated in Bangladesh. But this treatment is often too little too late, as the parents cannot afford the cost of bringing their children to Dhaka or else do so only in the terminal stages of the disease.

Of course, in a country like Bangladesh, where even primary healthcare is sadly inadequate, cancer treatment may appear to be a lesser priority. But at a time when ‘the war against terror’ is said to be a global priority, many people are asking: What about the war against poverty and suffering? Such a war must include the fight for all types of health care to be made available – especially for our children, who are our future.