The Uganda Cancer Institute has brought in at least two associate professors from the University of Washington in St. Louis to train their oncologists and physicians.
This has been done in a bid to increase the number of oncologists and physicians in order to enhance the effective treatment of cancer which has become a threat to the lives of Ugandans.
Uganda Cancer Institute (UCI) offers super specialized services in the areas of cancer treatment, research, and prevention.
It has a three-fold mission; research into all aspects of common cancers in Uganda, provision of optimal evidence-based clinical care, and provision of training for health care professionals using endemic cancers as model disease training.
It is noted that with a population of 35 million, Uganda has only 20 oncologists while the demand for these experts has grown in large numbers due to the steady growth of the cancer malady in the population with an annual load of more than 60,000 new cases in Uganda alone.
These patients and many more that never get to be accessed by the health systems, need diagnostics, therapeutic and rehabilitative services, and robust scientific research to control the cancer epidemic.
The project will support the Uganda Cancer Institute (UCI) to deliver high-level education, clinical training, research, and provide care for cancer management for Ugandans as well as the population of the EAC region.
UCI is a cancer treatment, research, and teaching center, affiliated with the Makerere University School of Medicine and with the Mulago National Referral Hospital, the teaching hospital for the medical school. UCI maintains an inpatient facility with a capacity of 80 beds.
It attends to an average of about 200 patients daily. It’s currently headed by Dr. Joseph Lubega.