A student who battled against cancer as a baby is campaigning to help thousands of children with the disease around the world.

Abbey White, 25, was left with limited vision after being born with the eye cancer retino- blastoma.

Like other British children, she received excellent treatment and lost the sight in only one eye.

But Miss White, of Kenilworth Avenue, east Oxford, said thousands of children in poorer parts of the world die from treatable cancers.

She is launching a website to highlight their plight, to coincide with International Childhood Cancer Day, on Tuesday, January 15.

She said: "It's amazing the amount of people who don't accept that children can get cancer. We need to increase understanding and awareness.

"More research is needed and more financial help.

"Potentially, many children's cancers can be cured with current treatments. But the application of resources isn't productive and parents' understanding of cancer isn't the same as those in the UK, so many children die."

Miss White was tested for retinoblastoma because her father, John, and sister, Corienda, were both diagnosed when babies. Mr White lost both eyes and Corienda lost one.

Miss White has spent a year teaching in Kenya and is now training to be a hospital play specialist, so she can return to Africa and care for youngsters undergoing cancer treatment.

She said: "Hospitals in Africa often provide little stimulation for children and many of them are left by their parents, who cannot stay with them because they have to return to work.

"I can't go into the medical field but this is something that I can do to help."

Her website's address is www.geocities.com/twatumaini

Twatumaini means "we hope" in Ki-Swahili -- the language used in east Africa. The site will provide information about childhood cancer across the world.