Dar es Salaam's Cutting-edge Cancer Centre Aims to Accommodate 100 Patients Daily

Over the past four years, the Tanzania Comprehensive Cancer Project (TCCP) has attempted to make improvements in the area of cancer care. Through a collaboration between the Institut Curie, the Government of Tanzania, the Bugando Medical Centre, the Agence Française de Développement, the Bugando Medical Center, the Ocean Road Cancer Institute, and AKDN, the TCCP has assisted 100 public primary healthcare facilities in Dar es Salaam and Mwanza in enhancing their oncology services. In the Aga Khan Hospital in Dar es Salaam, a new cancer center has also been established as a result of the TCCP. With 100 patients a day for radiation therapy, chemotherapy, screening, and immunisation services, the centre will shorten wait periods and assist in covering treatment expenses for many people who would not otherwise be able to afford it. State-of-the-art care will be made possible by devices that can perform high-precision radiation and 3D imaging. Princess Zahra Aga Khan, serving as the Chair of the Executive Committee of the Aga Khan Health Services (AKHS), addressed attendees during the inauguration ceremony.

“Today, to see this incredible tertiary investment in Dar es Salaam is a testament not only to the progress that Tanzania is making in health care, progress that AKDN, Aga Khan Health Services, and Aga Khan University are causing to happen, in the countries where we work, but also to the vision of [the AKDN health] system to be able to provide health care to millions at the primary level, but also provide advances to this level of care, where we're really seeing the height of technology in health care,” she said, expressing her appreciation to everyone involved.