10.02.20
The Christie works to improve cancer outcomes with Kenyan partners
Manchester’s cancer specialist trust, The Christie NHS Foundation Trust, has announced it is working with the Kenyan Ministry of Health and Kenyatta University Teaching, Referrals and Research Hospital (KUTRRH) to help improve cancer outcomes in the African country.
The Christie is an international centre of excellence for cancer research, education and treatment.
A memorandum of understanding was signed on January 20, 2020 ahead of the UK-Africa Investment Summit 2020 in London, and was followed by a visit to Kenya by representatives from The Christie and Manchester University NHS Foundation Trust. The summit aims to create new lasting partnerships that will deliver more investment, jobs and growth between the UK and African nations.
Representatives, including the Principal Secretary at the Ministry of Health in Kenya, had visited The Christie in December 2019 for a tour of the internationally-acclaimed cancer centre and met with key members of staff.
Following that visit and hearing from The Christie about its approach to international partnerships, the Kenyan representatives had expressed a desire to forge ahead with collaborative working and resulted in the recent signing of the memorandum of understanding.
Chief Executive of The Christie, Roger Spencer, Medical Director (Strategy), Prof. Chris Harrison and Director of The Christie School of Oncology, Prof. Richard Cowan, visited Kenya this month to agree a programme of work to be undertaken over the next five years.
Mr Spencer said: “Following discussions with the Government of Kenya’s Ministry of Health and our visit to KUTRRH, I am delighted that we will be working with our Kenyan partners to develop their oncology services.
“This support will include access to education and training opportunities, procurement advice, capacity building support and the agreement of clinical protocols and guidelines.”
This partnership represents the latest in a wide range of international projects supported through The Christie’s international arm, Christie International.
These projects have included service transformation and supporting the opening of a new radiation oncology centre in Ireland, technical input into oncology procurement to support the development of oncology services across 11 states in India, oncology advice in China for the building, equipping and staffing of new cancer facilities and help training doctors from Kazakhstan.