The upcoming extension of oral chemotherapy services to five additional hospitals is reckoned to aid patients and enhance cancer care across the country, for example, in terms of giving more cancer care-related skills to healthcare service providers. The five new hospitals expected to offer oral chemotherapy services are Rwinkwavu, University Teaching Hospital of Butare (CHUB), University Teaching Hospital of Kigali (CHUK), Karongi, and Ruhengeri hospitals. The medical facilities will complement existing healthcare providers such as the Rwanda Cancer Centre in Butaro, the Rwanda Military Hospital (RMH), and King Faisal Hospital. ALSO READ: Five additional hospitals to start offering chemotherapy Oral chemotherapy entails administering cancer-fighting drugs in tablet, capsule, or liquid form, offering a less aggressive treatment option for patients who are stabilising, as compared to intravenous chemotherapy which is for patients with more severe disease. Medical professionals in charge of the expected extension have said that it is just the beginning, as the ultimate objective is to broaden the availability of various cancer care services in health facilities across the country. This aims to distribute the patient load and enable greater coordination and information sharing among hospitals. As preparations for the expansion take shape, The New Times highlights key aspects of the process and what is being done to equip the five health facilities to be ready for the task ahead. 1. The rationale behind In an interview with The New Times, Dr Fredrick Kateera, the Deputy Executive Director of Partners in Health, a not-for-profit organisation supporting the government in cancer care, especially at Butaro Cancer Centre, said one of the reasons for expanding oral chemotherapy services to more hospitals is because Butaro cannot serve all cancer needs alone. ALSO READ: Born to survive: Resilience in the face of Genocide and breast cancer “We are using this opportunity to train some hospitals and health personnel to offer the services. It may not be the entire package but at least some piece of it. Sometimes there is over-congestion at Butaro because the other hospitals don’t have these capabilities,” he noted. He pointed out that the new development will improve coordination among the hospitals. “Even us in Butaro, there are things we don’t do, for example radiotherapy. If patients need it, we take them to Kanombe (RMH). Also, for some surgeries, we share specialists with CHUK,” he noted. 2. What is being done to capacitate the five hospitals? To prepare the five additional hospitals for offering oral chemotherapy services, training programmes were initiated, dealing with various aspects of cancer care, including drug administration, sample collection, storage, and transportation. “It is more than just administering drugs. Sometimes it is about storing the drug, quantifying it, and planning for the patients’ visit,” Kateera told The New Times. ALSO READ: Breast cancer survivor, activist unveils new book on awareness “The work has begun. It started with training the professionals on how to take samples. This year, we will be training some teams to provide oral chemotherapy. We have already supported Kanombe (RMH) before. We trained professionals there for a year to provide the medication,” he added. For Kateera, if more professionals can offer different packages of cancer care, the patient load is distributed. 3. Medics trained in taking samples of suspected cancerous masses Besides administering oral chemotherapy, several medics in additional hospitals are being trained to conduct examinations for individuals with suspected cancer masses. “We are training people in those hospitals to take samples, store them, and transport them to Butaro where we have a histopathological lab,” Kateera said. ALSO READ: Global cancer burden growing, says WHO For him, this will also save patients from having to endure lots of travelling schedules to Butaro for tests. Darius Benimana, a medical student and volunteer with Rwanda Cancer Relief, emphasised the positive impact of the developments on cancer care quality and lessening the patient burden. By improving diagnosis and prevention efforts, he said, cancer patients can receive timely treatment, leading to better outcomes. Benimana pointed out the importance of reducing the time it takes to initiate treatment, highlighting that decentralised chemotherapy services can expedite this process, benefiting patients across Rwanda. Today, Rwanda offers three treatment options for cancer; chemotherapy, surgery, and radiotherapy. According to data from Rwanda Biomedical Center (RBC), in 2023, more than 5,000 new cases of cancer were identified in Rwanda. 610 of these were cervical cancer cases and 605 were for breast cancer.
