KWENU: Our Culture, Our Future

Africa Educational Cancer Conference: A desired relief

Thursday, November 17, 2005

Cancer is a ravaging illness, especially in its late stages when it not only pummels the patient’s thoughts of life and death, but also may in some cases send families into emotional and financial ruins. The ruin of cancer is more pronounced in the developing countries where healthcare system seems to be in its abysmal stage. In these countries, early detection of the disease is continually eluding the medical practitioners. In every attempt to improve the early detection of cancer, especially in Africa and particularly in Nigeria, the lung cancer and other forms of cancer continue to be the number one killer disease among men and women.

Succor is on the way! One of the world’s renowned cancer treatment centers, The University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center in Houston, USA is organizing 1^st Annual Africa Educational Cancer Conference on February 22^nd-25^th, 2006 at Abuja Sheraton, Abuja, Nigeria to help disseminate vital information on the detection and treatment of various forms of cancer.

The conference organizers have enunciated pragmatic goals to help Nigeria and Africa in detecting and treating cancer in order to prolong life.

Short Term Goals   

The conference will consist of two and half-day sessions dedicated to early detection, multi-modality diagnostic, and therapeutic management of breast, cervical (including HIV association). Prostate, hematological (including pediatric leukemia/lymphoma and HIV related lymphoma), hepatocellular malignancies, and palliative care for cancer patients will be covered.  Also the sessions will focus on the place of cytotoxic agents in cancer care in Africa, updates on latest development in the use of vaccine in management of cervical cancer; and advances in radiation therapy and surgery, the key treatment modalities in Africa today. The conference would place special emphasis on novel and developing strategies for cancer prevention, the corner stone to the control of cancer in Africa.  

Long Term Goals

The Africa Educational Cancer Conference is geared toward developing collaborative efforts in the area of research, education of oncologists, treatment and outreach programs (designed for hands-on early screening and patient education) between M.D. Anderson and a designated African Institution to facilitate Cancer care in Africa. There would be an establishment of a Cancer Research/Reaching Institution in Nigeria.

Educational Objectives

The conference, which aims at disseminating information through lectures, panel discussions, workshops, and Question and Answer sessions, has enormous educational benefits. Educational objectives of the conference are pragmatic and reasonable. After attending the conference, the participants should be able to identify state-of-the-art diagnostic and therapeutic studies to diagnose the stages of cancer patients. The participants should be able to identify the role and timing of medical, radiation, and surgical management in a multidisciplinary approach to various forms of cancers. Additionally, the participants should be able to manage patients with early or late malignancies with reference to multidisciplinary treatment planning and delivery. While they should be able to describe the novel diagnostic and treatment approaches being developed in breast, cervical, prostate, hepatocellular, and hematological cancer patients, they should be able to recognize and manage symptoms resulting from treatment modalities used in cancer care.

Finally, the participants should be able to develop modalities for patient education in their respective institutions on cancer prevention and create policies for routine screening to facilitate early detection.

Target Audience

It is imperative that the ministry of health and health parastatals attend the conference to acquire the knowledge of latest cancer detection and treatment. The conference would be most beneficial to Medical Oncologists, Radiation Oncologists, Surgeons, Hematologists, Gynecologist, Gastroenterologist, Urologists, Pediatricians, Palliative/Hospice Care Physicians, Pharmacists, Fellows, and other health professionals involved in cancer patient care.

Nigeria and Africa owe thanks to Eucharia Iwuanyanwu, MPAS, PA-C, whose relentless effort and unbridled tenacity have culminated to this first of its kind conference by M.D. Anderson in Africa.  We hope that it will become the African ASCO—American Society of Clinical Oncology. I had the opportunity to discuss briefly with Mrs. Eucharia Iwuanyanwu about this project. The excerpts.

Reflecting on the people I know who are either sick with or died of cancer in Nigeria and a review of information out there, I realized that Africans are generally diagnosed at an advanced stage.  Secondly, the expertise and resources needed for cancer care in Africa is not there.  Most of those practicing oncology in Nigeria in particular were first Radiotherapist.  I saw a need to start a continuous education program for African physicians in Oncology to foster acquisition of knowledge, research, research collaborations between Africans and between Africa and the Americas, possible recruitment of African fellows and finally as a long term goal, the establishment of a cancer teaching, research, and treatment center in Nigeria to provide cancer care to Africans.  I then proposed a Pan African conference educational conference.  The first one is scheduled to take place in February of 2006, at Abuja Sheraton.  We have had to change the date from November 2005 twice due to conflict with other conferences.

I approached my department.  They thought it was an excellent idea and sent me to the Vice president of extramural programs.  His office handles all outreach programs for the institution.  The Institution currently has collaboration and sister institutions in Europe, Asia, India and Spain.  They are nine all together if I am not mistaken.  The institution has been great about helping other parts of the world and working with them.  Africa is going to finally get a chance.

Right now MD Anderson is the sponsor of the conference.  However, the institution is a state organization and non-profit.  MD Anderson therefore raises fund for all her activities.  We are soliciting for financial sponsors at this time and will appreciate organizations that will come forward to help this noble course.  We are also hoping that African-owned organizations and prominent businessmen and women would come to our aid.

We have sent letters to all the African embassies in America and targeted audience.  We wrote to many Hospitals in most of the African countries.  For Nigeria, the hosting country, we have written all the teaching hospitals, health minister, commissioners of health, medical organizations including members of IAEA, WHO, West African College of Medicine.  I attended the Conference of The Association of Nigerian Physicians in The Americas to create awareness of the conference and solicit their support. I have received response from different African countries and physicians in Nigeria indicating interest in the conference.

The conference will have plenary sessions and hands-on workshops.

We hope that this will be the beginning of bigger things to come to Africa in medical and healthcare areas.