Salomon Izere, Doctor of Medicine & Medical Researcher, Peer Reviewer at Dove Medical Press, shared on LinkedIn:
“Thrilled to share that our research has been accepted for a Poster Presentation at the 5th International Conference on Public Health in Africa (CPHIA 2026) in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia!
Our study, ‘Mapping Diagnostic Delays in Prostate Cancer Care: Evidence from a Multicenter Study in Rwanda,’ looked at where men lose time before receiving a prostate cancer diagnosis – and how that journey affects them financially.
Working with data from 225 patients, we found that the median time from first presentation to diagnosis was 125 days. Nearly 7 in 10 men experienced a delay of more than 90 days.
Most of this time was lost before pathology: referral alone took a median of 62 days, followed by specialist work-up at 52 days. In contrast, biopsy-to-histology turnaround averaged only 14 days.
We also found that more than half of participants reported severe or very severe financial burden, and that seeking care across three or more facilities significantly prolonged the pathway to diagnosis.
To me, these findings point to a simple but urgent message: delayed cancer diagnosis is not only a clinical problem – it is a health-system and financial-protection problem. Strengthening primary care, improving referral coordination, and using tools such as electronic referral tracking and patient navigation could help shorten this journey.
I’m grateful to my co-investigators, and to our supervisor, Dr. Ndayishimye Theophile, for their commitment throughout this work.
This work was part of our undergraduate medical theses at the University of Rwanda, College of Medicine and Health Sciences.
Thank you to Africa CDC Africa CDC Youth and the CPHIA 2026 Review Committee for this opportunity. I look forward to learning from and connecting with researchers, policymakers, and public-health leaders in Addis Ababa this November.”
You can also read: Joe Biden Raises Prostate Cancer Awareness, Urges Men to Discuss Screening With Their Doctors
