Independent charity The Bristol Myers Squibb (BMS) Foundation has awarded Baylor College of Medicine Global Health $2.25 million (about K3.9 billion) for a three-year Comprehensive Cervical Cancer Pilot Initiative in Malawi.
BMS Foundation president Catharine Grimes and Texas Children’s Global Health Network director Michael Mizwa, who is also Baylor Foundation Malawi board chairperson, signed the agreement at Area 25 Community Hospital in Lilongwe.
The hospital will be the centre of the initiative’s cervical cancer services.
Baylor College of Medicine Global Health Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology chairperson Dr. Michael Belfort said: “The Comprehensive Cervical Cancer Pilot Initiative will set the stage for a scalable initiative that ultimately will have impact at the national or regional level.
“We are very grateful for the support of the BMS Foundation to make this project a reality with Baylor Foundation Malawi,” he said.
On her part, Grimes said BMS Foundation is proud to support this public-private partnership with Baylor College of Medicine and Texas Children’s Hospital to bolster local healthcare.
Baylor Foundation Malawi clinical director of maternal and neonatal health Dr. Chikondi Chiweza Yakobe said the Area 25 Community Hospital, which serves a population of 500 000, is expected to leverage on community-based educational campaigns, high-performance testing and capacity-building for healthcare workers to create a sustainable model for cervical cancer prevention and management.
Said Dr. Yakobe: “We are excited to partner with BMS Foundation to implement this grant and scale up cervical cancer preventive services for the women of the Area 25 catchment area.
“We are confident that the reach of this work will excel beyond the borders of Area 25 to the whole nation.”
Cervical cancer is the leading cause of cancer-related death among women in Malawi. The country’s cervical cancer mortality rate of 51.5 deaths per 100 000 women annually is more than twice that of other East African countries and about seven times the global average, according to the World Health Organisation (WHO).
WHO has put in place milestones aimed at accelerating the elimination of cervical cancer. These include human papilloma vaccination for girls, screening of women and diagnosis and care.
