United Against Cancer: Dr. Ahmed Elzawawy on Cost – Effective Treatments v2 | Dr. Zainab Shinkafi-Bagudu

Zainab Shinkafi-Bagudu: What the WIN-WIN initiative is, there are two wings to it. You are using scientific approaches that are well established historically to increase the affordability and improve the value of cancer care. So, you know, we have resource sparing cancer treatment, especially for low middle income countries using models that have been tried here.

And then you spoke about the second wing as well, which was, I think, declared in the Harvard Catalyst Summit and its catalytic action and advice from scientists to increase the rates of establishments of clinical oncology in the world, particularly in Africa. So thank you so much for that. And the role, you also mentioned the role that advocates have to play, like myself, in taking the message across.

And we’re always working with the oncologists to spread the word about new devices, to share our experiences from high and low income countries and see where we can match and where we cannot match. Then we have to find our own homegrown solutions and then also the power of partnerships. With this interview, we hope that we will have a lot of people sharing it so that we can hear about this initiative.

And it’s also available online very easily and everybody can key into the whole program. So I want your comments on artificial intelligence and the role that you think that it will play in the context of global oncology and in the context on the African continent.

Ahmed Elzawawy: This will be, it is very promising. And even in our book, in our initiative, we say, don’t afraid from artificial intelligence. We even call it assisting intelligence or augmenting intelligence.

In our last webinars, Global Oncology and Implementing Science, about repurposing drugs, you don’t imagine the number of risks of all the drugs that can be used in other indications. So it needs really some, it is a lot, need analysis, need to select, to suggest some better combination of drugs that can be tested. So there is a lot of things that could be done.

First of all, developing more, even in the inventions of drugs, or modification of some drugs or some protocol of treatment. And also in, there is two parts here, digitalization, which is very important, and computer and science and all this, because this is very important. If we remember that we need at least 5 million health workers in Africa, how we can make this?

Health workers, I speak in general, but there is a role of virtual. And there is also the role of artificial intelligence, not only on intelligence, on providing ideas, on developing things to be a fit for our, for a new invention. Sometimes it’s very complicated when you collect genomic things with socioeconomical factors, with what fits patients, expectation of patients, what, how you can see all these combinations together to select how it is good, better value for patients.

There are many, many, many approaches. And we should not be afraid of artificial intelligence, but it will make our job and our hopes more reliable, more feasible with this empowering coming from artificial intelligence.

Zainab Shinkafi-Bagudu: Yeah, very, very true.

Ahmed Elzawawy: And other things for Africa and for developing countries, these things are new in developing countries, in developed countries, in the United States and Europe. But this is new also in developing countries. So you can jump, you can jump.

Yes, because it is new for all, it is new for all. Yes, it is not a big gap between us and the highest institute in this country. No, because this is something new.

So a young, I am sure that a young person in Africa, young person in Guatemala or China, a young kid is able to do a lot more than an old person like me, for example, and to learn more. So the future for them and encourage that and not afraid of this for, not at all. It will increase our opportunities and chance for, and how to be focused on better value cancer care.

This is the human part of the job, to focus, to turn these uses to be focused to our service, not to be against our service.

Zainab Shinkafi-Bagudu: Very true, very true. So the time is now for low middle income countries across the globe to leapfrog into and key into the use of digital technology to reduce the workforce deficits that we are facing and will only get worse. So your final parting shots, Prof, you’ve spoken a lot about the win-win initiative.

Can you tell us how people can be a part of it? And then your final words before we let you go.

Ahmed Elzawawy: Welcome all. The win we are, we have is not slogan. It is true.

The win-win initiative belongs to all. And its value and its action will come only if it belongs to all. All have the access to join, to access, to lead, to suggest, to propose something and to lead it.

The win-win is not mine, it belongs to your website, iCDoc website, this iCDoc website. This is to the Global Oncology Implementing Science Program, which is, it is a forum for all. It is, there are links to many initiatives in the world, many societies in the world.

It belongs to all, really. This forum for all is not ours. It will succeed only if everyone feels that the win-win is his or her initiative.

Zainab Shinkafi-Bagudu: Well, that’s good. Well, thank you so much, Prof. Do you have any final words for us, advice of younger oncologists coming up in the space, globally, if you talk to them? What is your word of advice to the younger oncologists that are coming up?

We have spoken a lot about collaboration, about the use of homegrown solutions. And as a former president of IOTI, involved at a global level on oncology, what would be your advice to the younger generation of oncologists?

Ahmed Elzawawy: It’s not much advice, that this is advice to us, because we count on them. They are most of the present and the whole future. You are the whole future and any progress, the count depends on you.

So, please focus on our patients, on their real condition, on how to use science and how to adopt the science to serve them and to make things possible. Not just a data of clinical trial or best of us, but our patients. You, this is scientific.

It’s not hard to find. Yes, yes.

Zainab Shinkafi-Bagudu: Putting patients first. I like that. Thank you so much for your time, Prof. If you don’t have any final words, I would like you to end by saying, united against cancer.

Ahmed Elzawawy: United against cancer. Please be together.

Zainab Shinkafi-Bagudu: Thank you. Thank you, Professor. Thank you.

God bless you. God be with you. And we appreciate your time.

I hope that in the future, we’ll look forward to a lot more that we can do together. And I look forward to seeing you again soon. And Egypt is doing a lot of good work with their initiatives in breast cancer and so on.And I’m pleased.

Ahmed Elzawawy: And I am pleased. Please be. You are the leader now of this initiative.

Please go forward. Please go forward.

Zainab Shinkafi-Bagudu: I will. I will. We have started sharing it and I will copy you in the subsequent meals.

Thank you. Thank you, Prof. Thank you. Thank you.