The CureCervicalCancer team landed a few days ago in Arusha, Tanzania, and we have hit the ground running! Last week, we met with our ground partners from Selian Lutheran Hospital and Maternity Africa Kivulini Hospital. We will be training healthcare professionals from both hospitals and donating thermal ablation treatment devices to each site. After the training, we will continue to support our ground partners in conducting mobile “See & Treat” clinics to reach women in Arusha region who have never been screened and who are unlikely to ever access facility-based screening services.   ..read more

If a woman develops invasive cervical cancer or other severe gynecological issues, she may require a hysterectomy (removal of all or part of the uterus) to prevent the spread of the disease to other vital organs and/or to relieve her symptoms. In most parts of the developed world, laparoscopic hysterectomies are the standard; they are faster, safer, and easier to recover from than their more invasive counterparts. Without laparoscopic hysterectomies, women are more likely to die from hemorrhages or infections. Despite the greater risk, open radical hysterectomies are often the only option for ..read more

  During this most challenging time, I send you my strength and courage. I sincerely hope you and your families are healthy and well; doing the best as can be expected while navigating these difficult times. I mean this from the bottom of my heart. On Thursday, March 11, the CureCervicalCancer team was in the midst of conducting a Master Training in Kisumu, Kenya. When I received the news of the global travel restrictions, the team and I made the difficult decision to postpone the remainder of our Kenya training. I’m both glad and relieved to report that the team is safely home in Los An ..read more

At the beginning of the week, CureCervicalCancer traveled to Kisumu, Kenya and held a meeting with all partners and key stakeholders in Kisumu county involved with cervical cancer prevention. This meeting included members of the Kenyan Ministry of Health, Kisumu Medical and Education Trust (KMET), International Cancer Institute, the Family AIDS Care and Education Services (FACES), LVCT, Duke University, and the head OBGYN from the major referral hospital in Kisumu.The stakeholders meeting focused on the incidence of cervical cancer in Kisumu county and how to improve to access to preventative ..read more

This past week CureCervicalCancer has trained 22 healthcare providers in comprehensive cervical cancer prevention through VIA and  the treatment of precancerous lesions with thermal ablation. The training began on Monday with an informative session in the morning led by CCC clinical advisor Sharon Blosk. Dr. Blosk discussed the prevalence of cervical cancer in Kenya and its impact on the population. She went on to educate the trainees about Visual Inspection with Acetic Acid (VIA), a screening method for cervical pre-cancer that is quick, effective, and very cheap. Dr. Blosk also introduced th ..read more

CureCervicalCancer has returned to Nairobi, Kenya this September to train healthcare providers in “See and Treat” and bring thermal ablation to Nairobi. CCC will launch a new partnership with Women4Cancer, a Kenyan based non-profit organization. Women4Cancer focuses on community education as well as advocating for women’s health and early cancer screening. CCC will continue to strengthen its longstanding partnership with LVCT health, another Kenyan non-profit organization, and bring thermal ablation devices to 5 LVCT clinics. LVCT health focuses on empowering female sex workers as well as men ..read more

This concludes CCC’s weeklong training in Hue, Vietnam where 20 local healthcare providers were trained in the “See & Treat” method and thermal ablation. The trainees worked hard to screen a total of 877 women with Visual Inspection with Acetic Acid! These women include Hue locals, teachers, and police officers. Each of the six clinic stations was staffed with about 3 to 4 trainees and an expert facilitator who worked efficiently to screen over 200 women daily. On Wednesday, a CCC record was broken by having 321 women screened in one day! Throughout this entire week, the trainees detected ..read more

Today, CureCervicalCancer began its weeklong training program in Hue, Vietnam, marking the establishment of a new partnership between CCC and the Vietnamese Association of Midwives (VAM). The President of VAM, Phanh Thi Hanh, welcomed trainees and facilitators as well as distinguished guests from the Ministry of Health to the VAM Clinic, where the weeklong training will take place. CCC Program Director Rebecca Lepsik with VAM President Phanh Thi HanhIn the morning, Dr. Sharon Blosk gave a detailed lecture on cervical cancer pathophysiology as well as secondary prevention. Dr. Sharon Blosk revi ..read more

Trainees, facilitators, and the CCC team gather for a group debrief before a day of screening CureCervicalCancer completed a successful weeklong “See and Treat” training program for 22 healthcare providers from 12 facilities in Kisumu County, Kenya. We began the week with didactics, where trainees were given a lecture by Dr. Sharon Blosk and Dr. Chemtai Mungo, who joined us from UCSF, on the pathophysiology of cervical cancer.  We were joined by Dr. Ganda, the gynecology oncologist of Kisumu County from the counties largest referral hospital, JOOTRH. Trainees also practiced see and treat skill ..read more

Last week, CureCervicalCancer attended the first ever cervical cancer stakeholders’ forum in Kisumu County, Kenya. This event drew attendees from the public and private sectors including international and locally based nonprofits, officials from the public health system, and expert clinicians from the field. We discussed many challenges including the patient referral cascade, opportunities to optimize resources, and standardization in evaluation of training and patient documentation. Four working task groups were formed to work out practical short-term and long-term solutions to these issues ..read more