Tanzania Cervical Cancer Screening & Ultrasound Ed

Our Mission

Help us raise $20,000 to develop a sustainable ultrasound program and cervical cancer screen-and-treat in Mwanza, Tanzania!

This summer, 7 first year medical students from UC Irvine will be traveling to Mwanza, Tanzania to teach ultrasound and conduct research at the Tandabui Institute of Health, Education, Science and Technology (TIHEST) and Bugando Medical Center. We will be the sixth UCISOM student group to go and work with the wonderful community of Mwanza. Our goal is to create a sustainable ultrasound program at TIHEST and Bugando Medical Center by providing local practitioners with the skills and means to carry on the program after our trip has ended. In addition to helping to educate the clinicians in Mwanza, we will be conducting research projects that we have created based off of the needs of this specific community. Finally, we are extremely excited to host a cervical cancer screen-and-treat clinic and participate in demographic research of patients who have cervical cancer and/or HPV. This information will help us understand risk factors and development of cervical cancer, which will contribute to reducing the prevalence of this disease.

Learn more about our projects below!

Our Projects

Ultrasound

Ultrasound is a medical imaging technique that uses sound waves to visualize internal organs in real time. You are probably most familiar with ultrasound and its ability to visualize a developing baby inside its mother’s womb. But, ultrasound offers a variety of other uses: from visualizing a beating heart to localizing the presence of internal bleeding. Medical imaging tests that are easily accessible here in the United States, such as MRI’s, CT’s, and X-rays, are not easy to come by in Mwanza due to cost and the size of the machines. Ultrasound machines are more portable than their imaging counterparts (some can fit inside a small duffle bag!) and cost less to own and operate. For this reason, teaching the local community how to properly use ultrasound can provide many benefits. This year’s ultrasound curriculum will be overseen by Dr. Janice Boughton.

Cervical Cancer Screen and Treat

Cervical cancer is the most prevalent cancer among women in Africa with approximately 40% of new cases occurring in East Africa. Tanzania has the 6th-highest national rate of cervical cancer in the world at 54.0 cases per 100,000; this preventable cancer is a major cause of death for Tanzanian women. Despite this burden, Tanzania has no universal cervical cancer screening protocols in place.  

Since 2016, UCISOM Team Tanzania has engaged with local communities in Mwanza (2016) and Ukerewe (2017) about HPV/cervical cancer awareness and has facilitated screen-and-treat services for populations-at-risk. The screen and treat offers screening for cervical lesions and treatment with cryotherapy, when appropriate, to women who would not usually have access to care. Last year, UCISOM Team Tanzania screened 828 women. The 2019 team will be accompanied by Dr. Krishnansu Tewari, Dr. Kiran Clair, and Dr. Anjali Hari.  For the 2019 clinic, we aim to expand demographic data collection and provide more robust HPV/cervical cancer educational services. Team Tanzania 2019 will be partnering with Buzuruga Health Center (public hospital) to run the screen-and-treat. To prevent HPV infections that may lead to cervical cancer, we will be sharing educational material and videos to better teach the women about the risks and causes of cervical cancer. We will also be educating health officers there to promote the sustainability of the project while we are there. This project is a continuation of efforts to promote women’s health through increasing access to cervical cancer screening and treatment.

We are seeking to fund a research trip to Mwanza, Tanzania primarily to implement and evaluate a community based cervical cancer screening program. Secondarily, we will assess follow-up rate for cryotherapy ineligible patients referred for biopsy/LEEP during prior screen and treat programs, identify and characterize barriers for cryotherapy ineligible patients to obtain appropriate follow-up, implement and assess the quality of a screen and treat education outreach program for community health workers, and evaluate patient and community workers attitudes and knowledge of the HPV vaccine.

Thank you for supporting our team and for all the work and hope we will bring to Mwanza, Tanzania!