ecancermedicalscience

Short Communication

The evolution of a novel approach to building surgical capacity for cervical cancer in Africa

7 Nov 2022
Michael L Hicks, Mulindi Mwanahamuntu, Raleigh Butler, Homer Bloomfield, Alex Mutombo, Mukanya Mpalata Anaclet, Mulumba Kapuka Sylvain, Lameck Chinula, James Kachingwe, Groesbeck P Parham

The human, financial, and infrastructural resources required to effectively treat invasive cancer of the cervix are grossly inadequate in the African region, inclusive of a paucity of surgeons capable of performing life-saving radical pelvic surgery for early-stage disease, and the requisite medical ecosystem (blood banking, anesthesia, laboratory, imaging, diagnostics, etc.) Death without treatment, therefore, is a common sequela of cervical cancer in Africa. As African American gynaecologic oncology sub-specialists working in Africa and its Diaspora, we set out to find a way to alter these circumstances. Herein, we provide an overview of our efforts and how they evolved into a novel method of training that rapidly builds surgical capacity for the treatment of early-stage cervical cancer in resource-constrained environments.

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