Collaboration with Kenya Ministry of Health
National Cancer Institute Aims to Expand Access to Diagnostics,
Reduce Cervical Cancer Rates
NAIROBI,
Kenya, Jan. 25, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- BD (Becton,
Dickinson and Company) (NYSE: BDX), a leading global medical
technology company, today announced a collaboration with the Kenyan
Government through the National Cancer Institute-Kenya to advance
access to critical cancer diagnostics for women in Kenya. Through this program, BD continues to
drive its commitment toward progress of advancing health equity to
underserved communities around the world.
The initiative is aligned to the Ministry of Health Kenya's
Cancer Control Strategy, which advocates for early detection and
screening of cancers such as cervical and breast, as well as
linkage to care (initial health care visit after diagnosis), and
leveraging partnerships to strengthen capacity and resources for
cancer care throughout the health system. The strategy seeks to
address the prevention and control of all cancers and resonates
with the broader effort made by the World Health Organization (WHO)
which aims to eliminate cervical cancer by 2030 by achieving
vaccination, screening and treatment targets.
- Cervical cancer is the fourth most common cancer among
women globally, with an estimated 604,000 new cases and 342,000
deaths in 2020. About 90% of the new cases and deaths
worldwide in 2020 occurred in low- and middle-income
countries.i
- Almost all cervical cancer cases (more than 95%) are linked
to human papillomavirus (HPV) infection,
an extremely common virus transmitted through sexual
contact.i
- In Kenya, only one in 10
girls above age 15 years have received a full course of
vaccination against sexually transmitted HPV.
ii
- Cervical and breast cancer are the top two female cancers in
Kenya by incidence and
mortality.iii
- Only one in 10 women in Kenya have been screened for cervical
cancer in the last five years.ii
"Cervical cancer is curable and preventable, and can be
eliminated within our lifetimes," said Dr. Catherine Murithi, global public health leader
in Africa for BD. "Vaccination,
regular screening, early diagnosis, and treatment could save
thousands of women's lives each year in Kenya. Cervical cancer symptoms develop slowly
over time and often do not appear until the disease has reached an
advanced state, which is why regular screening is so important—and
so effective.
Dr. Murithi continued, "BD welcomes this opportunity to partner
with the Kenya Ministry of Health and County governments to help
reduce rates of cervical cancer and advance the World Health
Organization's Global Strategy for Cervical Cancer
Elimination."
The program will be piloted in Nairobi County, with strong
collaboration with the Nairobi County government, with a goal to
expand throughout the country in the future. BD will support the
initiative through:
- Cervical cancer awareness campaigns and health advocacy
reaching local women where they work and live;
- Training community health volunteers about HPV self-sampling
and distributing self-collection kits to local health clinics;
- Installing at the National Reference Laboratory in Nairobi a high-volume automated molecular
diagnostic system that uses a unique test to individually identify
high-risk HPV types;
- Establishing a Rapid Diagnostic Center at Mama Lucy Hospital in
Nairobi; and
- Strengthening health care referral networks and linkage to
care, as well as digital tracking of samples and results
reporting.
Dr. Elias Melly, The Chief
Executive Officer, National Cancer Institute Kenya said,
"Kenya is experiencing a high
burden of cancer disproportionately affecting women. The launch of
this novel rapid access cancer screening and diagnosis program will
help achieve our targets in reducing premature mortality from
cervical and breast cancers."
Senior director of BD Global Public Health Caitlin Asjes said,
"At BD, we believe our opportunity goes beyond developing
meaningful health care technologies to helping ensure these
innovations are available to people regardless of geography,
demographics or socioeconomic status. Through this partnership, we
look to reach meaningful and sustainable impact in Kenya and explore opportunity to further this
program in underserved countries with comparable cancer
challenges."
About BD
BD is one of the largest global medical
technology companies in the world and is advancing the world of
health by improving medical discovery, diagnostics and the delivery
of care. The company supports the heroes on the frontlines of
health care by developing innovative technology, services and
solutions that help advance both clinical therapy for patients and
clinical process for health care providers. BD and its more than
70,000 employees have a passion and commitment to help enhance the
safety and efficiency of clinicians' care delivery process, enable
laboratory scientists to accurately detect disease and advance
researchers' capabilities to develop the next generation of
diagnostics and therapeutics. BD has a presence in virtually every
country and partners with organizations around the world to address
some of the most challenging global health issues. By working in
close collaboration with customers, BD can help enhance outcomes,
lower costs, increase efficiencies, improve safety and expand
access to health care. For more information on BD, please visit
bd.com or connect with us on LinkedIn at
www.linkedin.com/company/bd1/, X (formerly Twitter)
@BDandCo or Instagram @becton_dickinson.
i https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/cervical-cancer
ii
https://www.who.int/publications/m/item/cervical-cancer-country-profiles
iii https://gco.iarc.fr/today/fact-sheets-populations
Contacts:
|
|
|
|
Media:
|
Investors:
|
Troy
Kirkpatrick
|
Adam Reiffe
|
VP, Public
Relations
|
Sr. Director, Investor
Relations
|
858.617.2361
|
201.847.6927
|
troy.kirkpatrick@bd.com
|
adam.reiffe@bd.com
|
View original content to download
multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/bd-helps-advance-health-equity-for-women-in-kenya-through-critical-cancer-screening-302044252.html
SOURCE BD (Becton, Dickinson and Company)