Gabriela Emanuel

Nikhil Bhakta of St.

Jude's Children's Research Hospital co-authored the study published in The Lancet.

He says in the U.S., the vast majority of children with cancer survive, but not in parts of Africa and Asia.

That's because treating childhood cancer requires a well-functioning medical system.

He says this research demonstrates where health systems need bolstering.

Gabriella Emanuel, NPR News.

Less than 20% of children will survive.

That disparity, that gap, is one of the largest in all of global health.

For more than 60 years, Cuba has sent doctors and other medical professionals abroad to work in underserved communities.

The Cuban government is often paid a hefty sum, and the doctors make a small fraction of that.

Stephanie Panakelli-Batalla is at the University of Warwick in the UK.

The U.S.

calls the system human trafficking, and it has threatened to cut off U.S.

assistance to countries that participate.

Now Guatemala, Jamaica, Guyana, Honduras and others are bowing out of their arrangements with Cuba or are trying to pay the doctors directly.

Gabriela Emanuel, NPR News.

For more than 60 years, Cuba has sent doctors and other medical professionals abroad to work in underserved communities.

The Cuban government is often paid a hefty sum, and the doctors make a small fraction of that.

Stephanie Panakelli-Batalla is at the University of Warwick in the UK.

The U.S.