The American Cancer Society's Global Healthcare Provider Support team including Director Justine Swindell, program Manager Laura Plattner and the team's Vice President Dr. Anu Agrawal traveled to Accra, Ghana at the end of October to provide continued assistance to medical and radiation oncologists in sub-Saharan Africa as part of the African Cancer Coalition. The ACC was developed in 2016 in partnership with ACS as well as the National Comprehensive Cancer Network (NCCN), and the Clinton Health Access Initiative (CHAI) to form the group Allied Against Cancer and now includes 15 African countries and over 200 oncologists. Together, we are focused on providing context-appropriate, evidence-based cancer care strategies that address the unique challenges faced across the region.
"The Sub-Saharan Africa region is dealing with a rising rate of cancer incidences. Standardizing care based on the latest evidence-based expert consensus-driven recommendations helps ensure consistency in treatment and enables better planning for how to use available resources," said Dr. Henry Ddungu, senior consultant, hematology/oncology of the ACC. "We can ensure people with cancer receive the most effective treatment by harnessing local expertise combined with global best practices."
The American Cancer Society's Global Healthcare Provider Support program works with policy makers and cancer care providers from various socio-cultural-economic settings to adapt, publish, and conduct needs-based implementation of training materials, job aids, and treatment guidelines for wider use.
