BOTSWANA – The government of Botswana and Rutgers, the State University of New Jersey, have signed two health initiatives.
Botswana-Rutgers Partnership for Health piloted a rapid “screen and treat” program for breast cancer to close the breast cancer screening gap in Botswana.
This collaborative pilot between the Office of the President of Botswana, Botswana’s Ministry of Health, the University of Botswana, Rutgers Global Health Institute, and experts from across Rutgers, will evaluate evidence-based interventions for breast cancer screening in an asymptomatic female population across 10 primary clinics in the Serowe region of Botswana.
This new initiative will train nurses to administer clinical breast examinations and to provide breast self-care education to women in the hopes of impacting global goals to decrease the burden of deaths from breast cancer.
Botswana-Rutgers Partnership for Health has also debuted the Kitso Oncology Workforce Training Program.
Rutgers Global Health Institute with support from Bristol Myers Squibb, and in partnership with the Botswana Ministry of Health and the University of Botswana, along with experts from across Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, will provide an in-demand education and training initiative that responds to the specialty workforce needs in oncology in Botswana and countries in Africa.
The Kitso Oncology program will help to improve oncology and non-oncology health care professionals’ knowledge and skills in cancer care and prevention through a novel, hybrid oncology course on clinical management.
In addition, the program aims to strengthen partnerships with the African Ministries of Health and academic institutions in sub-Saharan Africa to enhance the skills and capacity of public sector health care professionals in oncology.
Furthermore, this program serves to translate clinical science to evidence-based practices applicable for specific African settings, and to tailor to the unique needs of health care professionals, in each African setting.
For decades, the United States has partnered with African nations to meet shared health challenges. The U.S.-Africa Leaders Summit that began on December 13 marked an opportunity to announce new actions and renewed commitments from the United States to combat cancer across the continent of Africa.
These efforts include strengthening domestic public health infrastructure, building resilient health systems, and investing in health workers, as well as funding for robust and impactful initiatives across the African continent on cancer prevention, screening, treatment, and research, totalling approximately US$200 million.
The private sector has also stepped up, responding with approximately US$130 million in new announcements.
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