Aga Khan set to open modern cancer centre

The Aga Khan Hospital (Dar es Salaam) is set to open its state-of-the-art cancer care centre, which will benefit up to 1.7 million people in the Dar es Salaam and Mwanza regions.

The Sh250 billion centre, whose construction began in 2022, will serve as a key hub for the innovative Tanzania Comprehensive Cancer Project (TCCP).

It is expected to reduce patient wait times and delays at the Ocean Road Cancer Institute (ORCI), a key partner in the project.

Speaking during the ‘TCCP data dissemination workshop programme’ at the Aga Khan Hospital Dar es Salaam yesterday, Aga Khan Health Services Tanzania CEO, Mr Sisawo Konteh, said the centre will have two radiotherapy units. Currently, Tanzania has nine such units.

He thanked the government for its support during the implementation of the project in Mwanza and Dar es Salaam, which has enabled them to raise awareness, test, and treat cancer patients across the respective regions.

Launched by the Aga Khan Health Services (AKHS) in 2020, TCCP is a four-year evidence-based initiative funded by the Agence Française (ADF) with the goal of reducing cancer morbidity and mortality in the Dar es Salaam and Mwanza regions.

Over 4.45 million people were educated about cancer, 73,000 people were tested, and 29,700 people were treated for various types of cancer under the innovative project that supports government efforts to reduce cancer cases.

Speaking at the event, the TCCP’s partnerships and communications manager, Dr Sarah Maongezi, said about 800,000 residents of Dar es Salaam and Mwanza were screened in 100 public primary-care health facilities during the period.

Dr Maongezi said the project that is due to be completed this month targets four goals, including improving and expanding existing oncology infrastructure to provide more comprehensive oncology care through the strengthening of the health system.

They also provided a radiotherapy unit to the Bugando Medical Centre (BMC) in Mwanza Region.

“Others are to build the capacity of staff of participating institutions to provide high-quality cancer care and train and retain local professionals through accredited programmes to strengthen community cancer care practices by delivering affordable, comprehensive health care services for preventive services.

The initiative also aims at developing and maintaining relationships with stakeholders and participating institutions on joint research agendas and initiatives.

She said although they have been able to reach 800, 000 people directly and 1, 000, 000 indirectly, there are still awareness challenges among the community as people maintain cultural practices that lead to cancer, giving the ex-ample of women who use snuff to stimulate their sexual drive.

She said the lack of enough rediotherapy units was another challenge hindering the delivery of effective cancer treatment.

Tanzania has only nine such units. The World Health Organisation (WHO) directs that a unit should serve 1,000,000 people. “With our population of over 60 million people, we need 60 units to match the population.”