ASCP and a group of global oncology organizations are promoting innovations to improve the coordination of cancer care systems in low- and middle-income countries, particularly in Africa.
Last year, the Coalition for Research in Global Oncology (CIRGO), awarded a total of $480,000 to eight projects that had designed country-specific initiatives focusing on early detection of breast cancer, cancer data quality, improving rural access to cancer testing and diagnostic services and strengthening cancer registries. Each of the eight health systems in Africa that received a $60,000 GIRGO grant, funded by the Bristol Myers Squibb Company, has designed projects that will improve the implementation of these cancer care projects in Africa.
One grant recipient, Butaro Hospital in Butaro, Rwanda, has designed a project titled, “Improving access to cancer tissue diagnosis for remote hospitals in sub-Saharan Africa: The experience of a rural cancer Centre in Rwanda.” It aims to enhance the current transportation process of tissue samples in Rwanda, from remote district hospitals to the Butaro Cancer Centre Pathology Laboratory.
Staff pathologist Dr. Deo Ruhangaza explained, “The hospital is calculating the turn-around time to detect areas where there is a delay in the process, providing training on appropriate sample handling and fixation, and creating an electronic sample tracking and reporting system to improve the turn-around time and the communication between our cancer center and our remote district hospital clinicians.”
Findings from this project will be used to design recommendations to improve access to tissue diagnosis for Butaro’s hospitals that are located in more remote regions.
Another CIRGO-funded project taking place in Mozambique seeks to better screen and treat women who have pre-invasive cervical disease, in order to reduce the incidence of cervical cancer. Their goal is to better train gynecology residents in the management of women who have pre-invasive disease by holding regular conferences (Project ECHO) to reinforce and expand skill sets and knowledge to create a sustainable program.
This project is conducted at Maputo Central Hospital, the only cancer referral hospital in the country. At present, the hospital has local resources and expertise to train residents in the diagnosis and treatment of women with pre-invasive cervical disease. Residents will be posted around the country at the completion of training and will be skilled in these diagnostic and therapeutic procedures. Fully trained gynecologists are then able to teach these procedures and provide guidance and supervision.
Having a skilled and highly trained workforce is critical to strengthening local and national health systems. A more expansive report of these efforts by CIRGO will be featured in the January issue of
Critical Values online.
