Fatima Dambatta: I joined the recently concluded Trilateral meeting hosted by CDRF Global on the peaceful uses of Nuclear Energy
Fatima Dambatta, Medical Programs Manager at Medicaid Cancer Foundation, shared on LinkedIn:
“I joined the recently concluded Trilateral meeting hosted by CDRF Global as a part of the Sustained Dialogue on peaceful uses that brought together Stakeholders including Oncologists, members of Civil Society Organizations, and Government representatives from Nigeria, Ghana, and Cameroon to continue the Conversation on the peaceful uses of Nuclear Energy.
The meeting began with a recap of the previous year’s meeting which had focused on expanding access to radiation in West Africa, by Dr. Baffour Awah from Ghana.
The discussion expanded to the challenges experienced in access in the three countries, unsurprisingly they were similar circulating around funding, lack of manpower, infrastructure, etc, characteristic of most Low Middle-Income Countries.
Dr. Lisa Stevens of the IAEA (International Atomic Energy Agency) highlighted that only 5% of global spending on Cancer goes to LMIC with a shortfall of 5,600 Radiotherapy machines in Middle-Income Countries, the Rays of Hope initiative by the IAEA focuses on Countries with Inequitable access to provide cost-effective and sustainable solutions in line with National needs and commitment.
In her Presentation, Dr. Omolola Salako shed light on the gaps that existed in oncologic care in Nigeria, with the available oncologists being centered in urban areas leaving the rural populations underserved. In a bid to address this gap, she and her team had resulted to telemedicine with initially the Oncopadi and now the Prose app.
Finally, we reached a consensus that to truly extend care to the rural regions, there is a need to focus on community/ patient education, provider education, and inclusion of technology.
In my contributions, I highlighted the work that Medicaid Cancer Foundation is currently doing in community education and mobilization through regular outreach and screening programs in Abuja and Kebbi state, stating that in our work we have been able to witness the importance of partnerships and operating through appropriate channels by engaging stakeholders in the community, especially the traditional and religious leaders.
We re-iterated as always, that partnerships are the bedrock for change, I look forward to the application of the solutions derived as we continue our journey towards reducing inequities and improving access.”
Source: Fatima Dambatta/LinkedIn
