Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy

Biography

Biography: Ntirenganya Faustin

Abstract

Cancer represents a significant and rising burden of disease and a serious public health issue and outcomes are worse in Low and Middle Income Countries (LMICs). The United Nations conference in 2011 highlighted the importance of addressing health and health infrastructure needs to treat non communicable diseases including cancer in developing world. Rwanda Ministry of Health (MOH) has prioritized addressing this disease burden through approaches including standardization and expansion of access to quality cancer services. It is in that framework that, in partnership with Partners in Health (PIH), Butaro Cancer Centre of excellence has been created in 2012, in rural Rwanda. The vision was to create, strengthen and sustain high quality oncology services with equitable access to all cancer patients. Parallel to that, the MOH has integrated cancer services in all levels of the health system, from the community, passing by health centers, district hospitals to referral hospitals. These services include awareness, early detection and screening, diagnosis and treatment. Key challenges are related to sustainability of services especially chemotherapy, access to radiotherapy as currently it is not available in the country due to a few number of cancer specialists and poverty. In addition, awareness is still low and patients are present often at advanced stages. Providers are not well-prepared to communicate and deal with the complexities of cancer care. Distance and constraints of the medical care system also can impede to the accessibility of care. In conclusion, equitable access to cancers services is still a big challenge for developing countries including Rwanda. A wide range of actions are still needed to effectively prevent, diagnose, treat and control the many, often advanced forms of cancer seen in that part of the world.