Today, we started our day early by having our pre-meeting at 7 am while having our breakfast in our one and only Kaleb Hotel. The first meeting we had this morning was with the Black Lion Hospital oncologists to get first-hand perspectives about cancer patients and their needs. The limited resources of drugs and low retention of trained staff have been big barriers in delivering proper diagnosis and treatments to the patients.
As the only hospital with cancer clinic, it is struggling to access medicines for patients, who are able and willing to pay, and affordable medicines for the underprivileged patients. On top of that, the wait time between the drugs’ supplies is about 6 to 7 months, which means patients are left hanging unless they have the means to go abroad and get treated in another country.
As the only hospital with cancer clinic, it is struggling to access medicines for patients, who are able and willing to pay, and affordable medicines for the underprivileged patients. On top of that, the wait time between the drugs’ supplies is about 6 to 7 months, which means patients are left hanging unless they have the means to go abroad and get treated in another country.
Furthermore, Black Lion Hospital is serving approximately 10,000 new cancer patients annually and only 7 oncologists are currently serving these patients. These oncologists were trained internationally (including the U.S., the U.K., India, Australia, Germany, South Africa) and they decided to stay in Addis Ababa, even though they are making less than USD$1,000 monthly, because it is their intention to serve the people.
This was the waiting room of the oncology clinic at Black Lion Hospital. People stood in line outside of the building to get registered and waited in the waiting room until it was their turn to see the oncologists. The exceedingly high demands of cancer care and the low supplies cause an overcapacity in the oncology clinic. Ethiopia health service really needs improvement to serve the patients better (including access to equipment, medicines and trained supporting staff) because Ethiopia has capable and internationally trained doctors. After our meeting with the oncologists and tour in Black Lion Hospital, we moved on to our afternoon meeting.
Later in the afternoon, we had two meetings scheduled. Since we could not be at two places at once, we had to split up the team. Team A (Doran, Sean, Tim and Sarah) met with an Ethiopian architect to discuss the building of the actual cancer center. Engineer Zeleke was kind enough to meet them at our hotel. They had a very informative meeting and were able to gather information regarding building and materials cost. This information will be very useful in determining how much the IGAD Regional Cancer Center of Excellence will cost, which is an important piece of our business plan.
Team B (Prof. Emily, Dr. Maier, Beatrice, Nevil, Jodi-Ann and Hicki) went for the other meeting at the African Union (AU). The African Union plays a key role in conflict resolution, continent-wide interventions in health and other areas. Therefore, gaining their input, support and advice is key to the success of the cancer center. Team B met with two doctors who work at the AU Clinic to discuss the project and the role AU can play. Despite the meeting not being exactly what we expected, some very useful insights were gained. We learned that in order to gain the brand and reputation required of a world class facility, we need to build a facility that the AU would be comfortable to refer their clients to. This gave us a benchmark to measure the quality of service needed to make the IGAD regional cancer center a success. After the meeting, we got to take pictures in the beautiful African Union compound.
Later in the afternoon, we had two meetings scheduled. Since we could not be at two places at once, we had to split up the team. Team A (Doran, Sean, Tim and Sarah) met with an Ethiopian architect to discuss the building of the actual cancer center. Engineer Zeleke was kind enough to meet them at our hotel. They had a very informative meeting and were able to gather information regarding building and materials cost. This information will be very useful in determining how much the IGAD Regional Cancer Center of Excellence will cost, which is an important piece of our business plan.
Team B (Prof. Emily, Dr. Maier, Beatrice, Nevil, Jodi-Ann and Hicki) went for the other meeting at the African Union (AU). The African Union plays a key role in conflict resolution, continent-wide interventions in health and other areas. Therefore, gaining their input, support and advice is key to the success of the cancer center. Team B met with two doctors who work at the AU Clinic to discuss the project and the role AU can play. Despite the meeting not being exactly what we expected, some very useful insights were gained. We learned that in order to gain the brand and reputation required of a world class facility, we need to build a facility that the AU would be comfortable to refer their clients to. This gave us a benchmark to measure the quality of service needed to make the IGAD regional cancer center a success. After the meeting, we got to take pictures in the beautiful African Union compound.
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We ended the day by having a team dinner with the wonderful Dr. Girum. Dinner was at a local Ethiopian restaurant called Yod Abyssinia. Of course dinner included injera, tibs, shiro and doro wat. We also said goodbye to Prof. Emily as she embarks on a research project in Nicaragua.
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