People of AMPATH: Dr. Naftali Busakhala

Naftali Busakhala, MBChB, MMed (internal medicine) is a specialist physician and senior lecturer at Moi University, Department of Pharmacology.

When did you first start working with AMPATH?

I started working with AMPATH in 2006 when we started to volunteer our time to treat cancer patients at Moi Teaching and Referral Hospital. In 2007, the Hospital Board formally created a Department of Hematology and Oncology and appointed me as the chairman. We formed a very strong partnership with Indiana University, Brown University and Massachusetts University under the leadership of Professor Pat Loehrer, Sr. At that time, we did not even have clinic space. We used to see patients from the hospice premises for free. Then we started seeing patients on the outside basement corridors of the AMPATH building. We worked with Indiana University and many people: patients. relatives of patients, doctors, nurses, physiotherapists, administrators, politicians and donors to fundraise and put up the Chandaria Cancer and Chronic Diseases Centre and Radiotherapy unit at MTRH. By 2017, Hematology and Oncology had become a semi-autonomous Directorate within MTRH under my leadership. I stepped down as director in 2018 to pave way for fresh blood.

What are the goals of AMPATH’s ABCCCP program?

The AMPATH Breast & Cervical Cancer Control Program (ABCCCP) is currently supported by Eli Lilly and Company Foundation. The goal of ABCCCP is to improve access to screening and diagnostic services for breast and cervical cancer in Kenya by addressing the barriers of cancer care through a population health approach, working with communities and the Ministry of Health in Kenya.

The aim of the AMPATH ABCCCP program is to screen at least 100,000 women for breast and cervical cancer over a period of five years.

Why is breast cancer screening important?

Screening is important to diagnose early breast cancer (stage 0, 1, or 2) when a cure is possible.

What treatment options exist for people with breast cancer?

In Kenya, all treatment modalities: surgery, chemotherapy, radiotherapy and immunotherapy, are available to patients who can afford it. The majority of patients including those with insurance cannot afford these services.

To improve access to cancer services, AMPATH oncology works with the Ministry of Health to develop oncology facilities in government hospitals. We do a lot of advocacy to increase budgetary allocation to cancer care. Some government hospitals like Kisumu and Kakamega have already established cancer centres and trained staff as a result of AMPATH Oncology efforts. They even have multidisciplinary tumor boards. The closer government cancer centers are to the people, the better the access.

What makes the AMPATH partnership special?

The AMPATH partnership is focused on improving patient care. The core value of AMPATH is “care leads the way.”

ABCCCP by the numbers:

In the past four years, the program has:

• Screened over 125,000 women for breast and cervical cancer.

• Provided training for 161 physicians, 534 nurses, 74 pharmacists, and 370 community health workers.

• Referred 5,379 patients for follow-up from screening. Of those patients, 4034 attended follow-up visits. Of those patients, 2,704 individuals were diagnosed to have disease based on testing algorithm.