Former United States President, Bill Clinton, is scheduled to arrive in Rwanda on Wednesday for the launch of Butaro Cancer Centre. A statement from the Clinton Foundation Press Office confirmed that President Clinton will take part in the launch of the state-of-the-art facility in the Northern Province. Butaro Hospital, which was built with partnership of Clinton Foundation, the government of Rwanda and Partners in Health, will host Rwanda’s first National Cancer Referral Centre, the first of its kind to be established in a rural area in East Africa. The Centre is part of Rwanda’s five-year national plan to introduce cancer prevention, screening.“…he will attend the opening of the Butaro Cancer Centre of Excellence with Paul Farmer and Jeff Gordon. The centre was created through a Clinton Global Initiative commitment by the Jeff Gordon Children’s Foundation and Partners in Health,” reads the statement.Partners in Health was founded by Paul Farmer, an American Anthropologist and physician. “Just a few years ago, we had no system or financing mechanism to diagnose and treat AIDS in Africa. People said it was too expensive or too complicated. But today, nearly 7 million people in developing countries are receiving treatment for HIV. We can do the same with cancer,” said Paul Farmer.The cancer centre of excellence aims to address both existing resource limitations and the growing global cancer burden. According to WHO 16 million new cancer cases are expected worldwide by 2020, with 70 percent in developing countries like Rwanda. The Butaro cancer facility will provide a full spectrum of cancer care including screening, diagnosis, chemotherapy, surgery, patient follow-up, and palliative care. It will also serve as the first facility to implement standardised cancer training.NASCAR Sprint Cup driver Jeff Gordon has also confirmed that he will attend the grand opening of the centre. The Jeff Gordon Children’s Foundation is a major supporter of the first-of-its-kind cancer centre in a rural part of Africa. “Cancer can be very curable and treatable in many cases, but it’s just not happening. This is a big step, and I can’t wait to get there and be a part of this event,” said Gordon.A survey conducted in 2010 revealed that a total of 2,476 cancer cases were registered in Rwanda with 312 being children aged below 18 years.
