Access to Cancer Care in LMIC - Navigating Current Challenges

Abstract

At the Summit on Cancer Health Disparities held in 2023, the session on Access to Cancer Care in Low- and middle- income countries (LMIC) highlighted several efforts globally. The collaborative efforts of Dana Farber Cancer Institute and the Ministry of Health in spearheading the Butaro Cancer Center of Excellence (BCCOE) in Rwanda was one such initiative. They were able to set up the BCCOE to address the unmet need of cancer care in this area and have trained nurses in East Africa to help establish other similar centers. They also serve as the single radiotherapy center for the entire of the country. Another such collaborative effort between Massachusetts General Hospital and the cancer center in Botswana in setting up sexual health education initiatives for women undergoing pelvic radiation was highlighted. They started with a quality improvement project to demonstrate the benefit of sexual health education and proper vaginal dilator use amongst women in this demographic. They were able to demonstrate that 90% of patients were able to complete an in-person 6-week workshop with clear benefits noted on a long-term basis. To highlight examples of best practice examples of equitable partnerships, examples of partnerships between Instituto Nacional de Cancerologia in Mexico City and UCSF was described. It was emphasized that for successful collaborations, equitable bidirectional partnerships are key. The thought leaders in this field also highlighted challenges associated with global oncology and the need for inclusion of minorities in clinical trials to improve cancer care for all globally.