STEP BY STEP IMPROVING
CARE AND CURE
OF CHILDREN WITH CURABLE CANCERS IN SUB-SAHARAN AFRICA
VISION
Children with common and curable cancers in sub-Saharan Africa will achieve survival rates greater than 60% in line with the vision of the Global Initiative for Childhood Cancer (GICC) launched by the World Health Organization (WHO).
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MISSION
To develop, implement and assess locally appropriate treatment guidelines and to reduce both ‘treatment abandonment’ and death during treatment to <10%.
Members of the Steering Committee
Dr Trijn Israels, Chair
Blantyre, Malawi
Dr Glenn Mbah Afungchwi, Deputy-Chair
Mbingo, Cameroon
Dr Vivian Paintsil, Member
Kumasi, Ghana
Members of the Advisory Committee
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For Zero Abandonment from Start to Finish: Prof Elizabeth Molyneux, previously Head of Department of Paediatrics, Blantyre, Malawi
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For SUCCOUR - Supportive Care for Children with Cancer: Prof Lillian Sung, Toronto, Canada, expert supportive care.
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For the Wilms Africa Project: Prof Kathy Pritchard-Jones, London, UK, expert renal tumours.
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Chair CANCaRe Africa
Dr Trijn Israels is a paediatric oncologist who worked in Blantyre, Malawi, combining clinical service and locally relevant clinical research projects. Thereafter she served as the Co-Chair of the Committee on Paediatric Oncology in Developing Countries (PODC) of the International Society of Paediatric Oncology (SIOP) and coordinator of the SIOP PODC working group for adapted treatment guidelines, (co)-authoring several pragmatic adapted treatment guidelines for children with common and curable cancers (Wilms tumour, retinoblastoma, Burkitt lymphoma and supportive care) in low- income countries.
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Local (Research) Capacity Building for Childhood Cancer in sub-Saharan Africa
CANCaRe Africa has a bottom-up approach. Local leaders are in the best position to decide on priorities and assess the feasibility of interventions and are leading the steering committees of all our projects and programmes. With grants from Foundation S and SIOP PARC we have been able to build local research capacity and hire data managers with dedicated time in all sites participating in CANCaRe Africa. This has hugely improved quality of data management which is essential for our programmes and projects.
We aim for CANCaRe Africa and all related projects to be led by African multi-disciplinary clinicians and researchers with sufficient funding for protected time.
Results, impact and publications
Our recommendations are built on rigorously researched local evidence that is assessed for impact. In many areas of childhood cancer, reliable local data from sub-Saharan Africa are rare. We then develop local data through collaborative research to help decide on priorities and to evaluate the impact of interventions. The figure represents our cycle of change when identifying a need, developing an intervention and evaluating the outcomes.
Currently CANCaRe Africa has three projects. Information about the results, impact and publications are found here:
Other suggested reading from the CANCaRe Africa group and their work would include:
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‘Working Together to Build a Better Future for Children with Cancer in Africa’ summarises, activities, impact and plans for the future of the CANCaRe Africa group. * https://ascopubs.org/doi/pdf/10.1200/GO.20.00170
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Israels, T and Molyneux EMM. Paediatric Oncology. Collaborating in Africa – small steps to sustainable success. Nature Reviews Clin Oncol 2014.
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Israels, T, Kambugu J, Kouya F et al. Clinical trials to improve childhood cancer care and survival in sub-Saharan Africa Nature Reviews Clin Oncol 2013.
Participating Centres
Currently ten hospitals in seven countries in sub-Saharan Africa are participating in CANCaRe Africa. Other centres are very welcome to join (please contact us).
Currently participating centres and their leaders are:
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Top row:
Dr Francine Kouya, Mbingo, Banso and Mutengene Baptist Convention Hospitals, Cameroon
Prof Lorna Renner, Korle Bu Hospital, Accra, Ghana
Dr Festus Njuguna, Moi Teaching Hospital, Eldoret, Kenya
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Middle row:
Dr George Chagaluka, Queen Elizabeth Central Hospital, Blantyre, Malawi
Prof Inam Chitsike, Parirenyatwa Hospital, Harare, Zimbabwe
Dr Vivian Paintsil, Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital, Kumasi, Ghana
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Bottom row:
Dr Mulugeta Ayalew, College of Medicine and Health Sciences, Gondar, Ethiopia
Dr Diriba Fufa, Jimma University, Jimma, Ethiopia
Dr Barnabas Atwiine, Mbarara University of Science and Technology, Mbarara, Uganda
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Contact
If you are interested and / or would like to support this initiative – please contact us
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Acknowledgement
We are very grateful for financial support from the SIOP PARC - Programme to Advance Research Capacity in low-income countries and a My Child Matters grant from the Foundation S.
ABOUT
The Collaborative African Network for Childhood Cancer Care and Research (CANCaRe Africa) is an inclusive and active regional network founded in 2014. Our vision is that children with common and curable cancers in sub-Saharan Africa will achieve survival rates greater than 60% in line with the vision of the Global Initiative for Childhood Cancer (GICC) launched by the WHO. Our mission is to develop, implement and assess locally appropriate treatment guidelines and to reduce both ‘treatment abandonment’ and death during treatment to <10%.
CANCaRe Africa aims to be an inclusive platform for multi-centre clinical research and improvement of care of children with cancer in sub-Saharan Africa. We are a group of clinicians caring for children with cancer in Africa and give priority to interventions and projects with the highest expected impact on survival. Our programme aims for long term, sustainable impact by doing simple things well. In our view local leaders are in the best position to decide on priorities and assess the feasibility of interventions. Together we find sustainable solutions for local challenges. Our intervention projects follow the principles and rigorous methodology of implementation science.
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