ecancermedicalscience

Conference Report

Implementing PrOFILE in Francophone Africa: a regional workshop to prioritise improvement in paediatric oncology

5 Oct 2026
Ryan R. Lion, Glenn Mbah, Nathalie De Sousa Santos, Anne Gagnepain-Lacheteau, Karim Assani, Aissata Barry, Viviane Bissyande, Chantal Bouda, Aleine Budiongo, Isaac Bahati Chuma, Line Couitchéré, Fatou Binetou Diagne Akondé, Mame Ndella Diouf, Aimée Kissou, Robert Lukamba Mbuli, Boubacar Togo, Kan Paulin Yao, Yao Atteby Jean Jacques, Lea Zaho, Ekhtelbenina Zein, Isatou Bah Madison, Laila Hessissen

Childhood cancer outcomes in Sub-Saharan Africa remain substantially lower than those observed in high-income countries, reflecting persistent barriers in financing, diagnostic capacity, workforce development, access to essential therapies and supportive care infrastructure. The St. Jude Pediatric Oncology Facility Integrated Local Evaluation (PrOFILE) is a structured institutional assessment framework designed to identify gaps in paediatric oncology care delivery and support context-specific quality improvement planning. In a partnership between St. Jude and the Groupe Franco-Africain d’Oncologie Pédiatrique (GFAOP), the first Francophone African implementation of PrOFILE was conducted across 11 paediatric oncology centres in Senegal, Côte d’Ivoire, Guinea, Mali, Burkina Faso and the Democratic Republic of Congo. A regional prioritisation workshop was subsequently held in Rabat, Morocco, on May 4–5, 2026, immediately prior to the annual GFAOP meeting. The workshop brought together paediatric oncology representatives from participating institutions, along with facilitators from St. Jude Global and GFAOP teams. Following review of aggregated regional PrOFILE findings, participants engaged in a structured consensus-based prioritisation process comprising four sequential activities: categorisation of recommendations, collaboration analysis, impact–effort prioritisation and action planning. Across participating countries, major shared priorities included strengthening national financing for paediatric cancer care, improving the quality and safety of chemotherapy delivery, expanding access to advanced diagnostics, improving access to high-quality medications and supportive care resources and reducing treatment abandonment. Participants additionally developed preliminary regional action plans and identified future country-level implementation workshops as the next phase of the initiative. This workshop demonstrated the feasibility of conducting a structured, regionally coordinated PrOFILE prioritisation process across multiple

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