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African Cancer Management Professionals Meet in Zambia

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Permanent Secretary for Administration at the Ministry of Health, Kennedy Malama, with meeting participants at Zambia’s Cancer Diseases Hospital, Lusaka. (Photo: Counterpart/IAEA)

A mid-term coordination meeting for an IAEA technical cooperation (TC) project[1] under the African Regional Co-operative Agreement for Research, Development and Training Related to Nuclear Science and Technology (AFRA) took place in Lusaka, Zambia, from 7-11 May 2018, hosted by the Cancer Diseases Hospital. The project’s objective is twofold: it aims to improve access to quality radiotherapy services for the treatment of frequently occurring cancers in Africa; and it also supports human resource development in radiation medicine to ensure its sustainability on the African continent. This is the first AFRA project which focuses on both medical physics and radiation oncology.

The meeting was attended by the Project Coordinators from 16 of the 26 participating Member States, namely Algeria, Cote d’Ivoire, Ethiopia, Ghana, Kenya, Madagascar, Mali, Mauritania, Mauritius, Morocco, Niger, Nigeria, Sudan, Uganda, Zambia and Zimbabwe, as well as the two Project Scientific Consultants and the IAEA project team.

In his opening remarks, Mr Abdulrazak, Director, Division for Africa, Department of Technical Cooperation, IAEA, noted that even today about 80% of the population of Africa does not have access to radiotherapy services. Over the next five years, new cancer cases in Africa are expected to increase to 1.4 million each year. “There is an urgent need that efficient support is provided to our African Member States to ensure that the people of Africa have access to high quality cancer management services and that sustainable capacity in cancer management is built and strengthened”, he said.Mr Kennedy Malama, Permanent Secretary for Administration at the Ministry of Health, delivered his remarks later in the week. He appreciated the support that the IAEA has provided in the establishment and strengthening of radiotherapy services in Zambia and updated on the future plans of Zambia in that area.

The meeting provided a forum for the presentation of project achievements to date, as well as for discussions and agreement on activities to implement in the remaining 18 months of the project’s duration, which resulted in a revised project work plan. Participating Member States presented the status of radiotherapy in their respective countries, focusing on achievements from the project. In addition, participants heard about the strategic focus of the AFRA Regional Strategic Cooperative Framework for the period 2019–2023, and the focus for projects planned for the 2020–2021 TC programme cycle. As a result, the main directions for new project designs were discussed and agreed amongst the group.

 

[1] RAF6050 ‘Improving Access to Quality Cancer Management through Sustainable Capacity Building’

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