- Aga Khan Hospital Tanzania (AKHST) has launched The Tanzania Comprehensive Cancer Project (TCCP)
- The four-year €13.3 million private-public collaborative project is funded by AFD and the Aga Khan Foundation (AKF)
- TCCP has procured and installed TZS 1bn worth of equipment at Ocean Road Cancer Institute and Bugando Medical Centre- including the inaugurated mammography machine
Aga Khan Hospital Tanzania (AKHST) has launched The Tanzania Comprehensive Cancer Project (TCCP), a four-year €13.3 million, private-public collaborative project funded by the Agence Française de Development (AFD) and the Aga Khan Foundation (AKF).
Along with the TCCP launch, the hospital also inaugurated the first 3D Mammography machine that will serve to reduce cancer morbidity and mortality in the target regions including Dar es Salaam and Mwanza.
The launch was accompanied by several community events that involved a community walk to ‘Beat Cancer,’ a round table discussion, and a cancer screening event at The Aga Khan Hospital, Mwanza.
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The TCCP project commenced back in 2020 and it is estimated to support 100 public health facilities in Dar es Salaam and Mwanza as well as AKHST Outreach clinics and medical centres.
Since the launch, the project has trained over 330 healthcare workers in cervical and breast cancer screening and other vital training for cancer care.
In just two years, TCCP has procured and installed TZS 1bn worth of equipment at Ocean Road Cancer Institute and Bugando Medical Centre- including the inaugurated mammography machine.
The project uses a comprehensive approach to combat cancer, involving communities and building capacity to over 400 community health care workers, and raising awareness by printing and distributing over 3,000 books and 5,000 Information, Communications and Education (ICE) materials.
“This project aims to complement the government efforts towards reducing cancer morbidity and mortality,” said Minister of Health Ummy Mwalimu.
“The government cannot single-handedly combat the growing burden of cancer, hence we commend TCCP for their innovation towards demonstrating the success of public-private collaboration to control cancer in the country,” she added.
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This joint commitment by stakeholders to transform cancer treatment addresses the worsening cancer situation in Tanzania. Target key areas include prevention, diagnosis, and treatment, a huge step for a country that has only seven radiotherapy devices and six tumour diagnostic laboratories, Tanzania remains underequipped to treat cancer comprehensively.
This public-private collaboration covers Aga Khan Hospital and public hospitals, and it has incorporated public awareness while improving diagnosis. The ripple effect of TCCP has seen institutions and local government efforts seize the project to invest in infrastructure for cancer treatment towards a national cancer plan.
In Mwanza, Bugando Medical Centre is constructing a new building dedicated to cancer treatment. The Aga Khan Hospital in Dar es Salaam is now investing in a state-of-the-art two-story oncology unit that is expected to lift ground from 2024 to improve access to screening.
“This is a public-private collaboration that includes civil society and cancer stakeholders with the support of Institute Curie, France,” said AKHS, T CEO, Sisawo Konteh.
“TCCP will expand, improve and rejuvenate the quality of cancer care in the cancer treatment hospitals in both the public and private sector. We can raise awareness at grassroots levels through comprehensive Community Engagement by promoting early detection and creating a referral system to ensure early treatment,” the CEO pointed out.
Agence Française de Développement (AFD) is the implémentation arm of France’s policy on international development and solidarity. Through its financing of NGOs and the public sector, as well as its research and publications, AFD supports and accelerates transitions towards a fairer, more resilient world. It also provides training in sustainable development (at AFD Campus) and other awareness-raising activities in France.
AFD oversees teams working in more than 4,000 projects in the field, in the French Overseas Departments and Territories, across 115 countries. AFD strives to protect global public goods promoting a stable climate, biodiversity and peace, as well as gender equality, education and healthcare. In this way, we contribute to the commitment of France and the French people to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
Founded and guided by His Highness the Aga Khan, the Aga Khan Development Network (AKDN) is a group of private international development agencies that work to improve the quality of life and to create opportunities for people around the world. Its approach to development spans a range of cultural, social, economic, and environmental endeavours.
The mandates of its agencies include education and health, agriculture and food security, micro-finance, human habitat, crisis response, disaster reduction, protection of the environment, art, music, architecture, urban planning and conservation, and cultural heritage and preservation.
A principal focus for the AKDN is the enhancement of a pluralist civil society as an underwriter of human progress. Recognizing interdependence, upholding the dignity of life and valuing partnership, the AKDN seeks to promote peace and stability, nurture innovation and create an enabling environment that allows all, regardless of their differences, to realize their full potential.
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