Throughout 2021, the Pepal Tanzania team have been working to scale-up one of the exciting innovations from the NJIA programme, an initiative which aims to leverage the power of leadership and innovation to improve cervical cancer outcomes in low-resource healthcare settings.
During Cohorts 7 and 9 of the NJIA programme which took place in 2019, two teams began to question why existing cryotherapy machines were not being effectively utilised to reduce the cervical cancer burden in Kagera region, Tanzania.
When exploring this issue, the teams developed an action plan that involved a series of short-term outreach and treatment services that would be delivered on a rotational basis across several districts in Kagera. A key element to the teams’ plans was to systematically re-locate cryotherapy machines between health facilities in the region, so that more women could gain access to this effective treatment.
The early pilot projects in 2019 demonstrated that this idea was effective at increasing access to treatment services, indicating that these innovation projects had great potential to create impact at scale.
Since 2020, Pepal Tanzania has been working with the Kahawa Foundation to implement rotational treatment services across several health facilities in Karagwe, Ngara and Biharamulo districts in Kagera, where previously there was limited treatment services available to women.
We are thrilled to partner on this project with the Kahawa Foundation, which was founded in 2016 by three Alumni who took part in the very first cohort of the NJIA programme, whose leadership and commitment continues to make a huge difference in supporting women in Kagera.
At the beginning of 2021, with a grant from the Kahawa Foundation, Pepal Tanzania purchased three thermocoagulation machines, which would be implemented following a similar plan to the NJIA innovation projects from cohorts 7 and 9.
Thermocoagulation machines offer a treatment technique for precancerous lesions that is user-friendly, easy to learn, and operates at a relatively low cost. The machines offer effective preventative treatment of lesions of the cervix which show potential to develop into cancer.
Throughout the year, the three machines have successfully rotated between 10 health facilities in the three districts. Each health facility has organised a screen and treat campaign, contributing to over 400 women receiving screening. 22 women were identified with precancerous lesions and received treatment using one of the thermocoagulation machines.
In addition, 11 health workers received training on how to carry out inspections for precancerous lesions and how to treat lesions with the thermocoagulation machines.
“The thermocoagulator machines have helped to significantly reduce time and effort needed to set up screening sites during cervical cancer community based outreach campaigns. The health workers are now even more comfortable when they perform VIA positive treatment because it is quicker and a clear self timing process.”
– Neema Kyamba, Regional Reproductive Child Health Coordinator
Moving forward, we plan to continue the rotational treatment of the machines alongside community based screening campaigns to improve reach and ensure that more women gain access to this important equipment.
“The progress we have seen in the last year has been exciting and demonstrates the vast potential of NJIA innovation projects. With the support of the Kahawa Foundation, we have been able to bring thermocoagulator machines to many women who previously would not have access to this form of treatment.”
– Festo Hezron, Project Coordinator - Pepal Tanzania
This project is an excellent example of how new ideas can grow into projects with huge potential during Pepal programmes. For more information on our innovation and impact model, click here.