BLFA-supported labs are important contributors to improved cancer patient outcomes in East Africa. The state-of-the-art flow cytometry technology and training we have helped the labs implement has significantly grown local capacity for earlier and more accurate cancer diagnosis. Time to diagnosis is vital in catching cancer, particularly pediatric cancer, early. Returning results to families in days not weeks increases the likelihood that parents will opt in for treatment. In 2020, BLFA’s Pathology Improvement Program (PIP) funding allowed us to start remote, online training and case review for key laboratory staff in Uganda and Kenya. Led BLFA Board Member Dr. Steve Kussick, these regularly scheduled online-training room huddles allow lab leaders and staff to share learnings across boarders about their most perplexing and complex childhood cancer cases. Each lab historically processes about 25 samples per month. The labs report that as a result of our collaboration their numbers are steadily increasing. In 2021 we will continue to support these labs to increase that number further and look at how we can expand on these very successful pilots to serve even more patients and geographies.
