Miriam Mutebi, Breast Surgical Oncologist and Assistant Professor in the Department of Surgery at the Aga Khan University Hospital, shared a post on LinkedIn:
“If you ever want to know what 5’8”, Ankara-loving, permanently-in-transit looks like… it’s currently me.
Cancer doesn’t wait; neither should we.
After wrapping up WCLS2025 in Melbourne, it was wheels-up again, onward to Congo Brazzaville for a workshop at the heart of women’s health in Africa:
Actualizing cervical cancer elimination tools for African countries.
A quick reminder, many still don’t realize: cervical cancer remains the number one cancer killer of women in Africa, and tragically, many are diagnosed young.
What keeps me up at night is that this is a fully preventable illness.
Prevention isn’t a mystery. It’s access:
- HPV vaccination
- HPV testing
- Pap smears/VIA/VILI screening
- Bringing services closer to where women actually live
I’m here in dual mode: as a health systems researcher and educator focused on women’s health, and as Chair of the International Commonwealth Task Force for the Elimination of Cervical Cancer; helping move these tools from policy documents into everyday practice.
Hosted by the amazing Dr. Dille Issimouha and her team (led by Dr. Kofi Mensah Nyarko), our insightful panel of experts from across Africa worked with World Health Organization AFRO teams, often late into the night, to make this critical guidance a reality.
These conversations are bold, practical, and rooted in a shared belief: women’s lives must be a priority, not an afterthought.
We focused on urgent steps to bring the 90-70-90 cervical cancer elimination targets closer to our communities and build care delivery systems that work for, not against, our women. Because when women thrive, society rises with them.
No Rest For The Wicked (especially medics who believe African women deserved better care yesterday!)
I’m reenergized by our collective drive to make a difference NOW. Cancer doesn’t wait, and neither can our women.
So yes, here’s to access for all, to building the continent, and to showing up (jetlag, grey matter, and all) where the work matters.”
More posts featuring Miriam Mutebi.
