Rainato Gustavo Santos, Neto João Seda
School of Medicine of the Faculty of Medical Sciences of Minas Gerais, Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais, Brazil.
Universidade Federal de São Paulo, São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil.
J Cancer Educ. 2025 Dec;40(6):1018-1019. doi: 10.1007/s13187-024-02549-z. Epub 2024 Dec 9.
This article described an exchange program in Kenya, organized by the International Federation of Medical Students Associations at the University of Nairobi. The author, motivated by parallels between Kenya and Brazil, engaged with hematologic, pain management, and palliative care departments at Kenyatta National Hospital. Despite the global advancements in bone marrow transplant (BMT) procedures, Kenya has only recently begun to offer this treatment, with the first transplant occurring in 2022 at a private facility. The high cost of BMT, ranging from $20,000 to $30,000, limits access for most Kenyans, prompting wealthier patients to seek treatment abroad. The article highlights alarming cancer mortality rates in Kenya, exacerbated by disparities in healthcare access compared to Brazil's universal healthcare system. With a significant proportion of pediatric cancers being hematologic, the need for accessible BMT is urgent. The exchange program provided the author with insights into global oncologic health disparities and emphasized the necessity of improving medical training, increasing hospital resources, and securing support to enhance BMT access in Kenya and West Africa.
本文介绍了内罗毕大学国际医学生协会组织的肯尼亚交流项目。作者受肯尼亚与巴西之间相似之处的启发，与肯雅塔国家医院的血液学、疼痛管理和姑息治疗部门进行了交流。尽管全球骨髓移植（BMT）程序取得了进展，但肯尼亚直到最近才开始提供这种治疗，首例移植于2022年在一家私立机构进行。BMT的高昂成本在2万至3万美元之间，限制了大多数肯尼亚人获得治疗的机会，促使较富裕的患者到国外寻求治疗。文章强调了肯尼亚令人震惊的癌症死亡率，与巴西的全民医疗保健系统相比，医疗保健获取方面的差距加剧了这一情况。由于相当一部分儿童癌症是血液学癌症，因此迫切需要可及的BMT。该交流项目让作者深入了解了全球肿瘤健康差异，并强调了改善医学培训、增加医院资源以及获得支持以加强肯尼亚和西非BMT可及性的必要性。
