Clinical Oncology Publishes Findings from First-Ever Initiative on Sustainable Breast Cancer Treatment in the Developing World
(Science Direct) – In response to the growing burden of cancer in the developing world, AstraZeneca, in partnership with Tikur Anbessa Hospital, Addis Ababa, The Ethiopian Ministry of Health and AXIOS, developed a framework two years ago for the first-ever program to raise awareness, diagnose and treat breast cancer in Ethiopia. The interim results of this five-year initiative are reported in the March edition of Clinical Oncology*.
Breast cancer is the second most often occurring cancer (cervical cancer is first) among women in Ethiopia. It is estimated that around 10,000 Ethiopian women and men have breast cancer with thousands of more cases unreported as women living in rural areas often seek treatment from traditional healers before seeking help from the government health system. In addition, Ethiopia has many competing public health challenges, including a rising incidence of HIV/AIDS.
In recent years, the Ministry of Health has put additional emphasis on chronic disease management including cancer control. However, with competing health challenges resource has been limited for cancer treatment. The AstraZeneca Breast Cancer Initiative at Tikur Anbessa University Hospital is changing this paradigm.
Mammography, treatment protocols and the continuous audit of over 250 patients have led to considerable improvement in managing breast cancer patients in a single institution. Aspects of this programme are now being extended to other regional hospitals in Ethiopia. In addition, close collaboration with local health personnel has enabled Tikur Anbessa hospital to purchase important diagnostic equipment and establish training programmes and initiate new patient management systems.
“Our goal is to create a centre of excellence for breast cancer treatment in Ethiopia and, in doing so, validate a model for how to build this capability in a developing country,” said Dr. Karol Sikora, CancerPartners UK, one of the paper’s authors.
The project, which began in 2005, has turned Tikur Anbessa Hospital into the first treatment centre for breast cancer in Ethiopia and it has had a significant impact on care from reducing the waiting time for surgery to radiotherapy to less than two months compared with more than a year before the start of the project.
Tikur Anbessa Hospital was selected as the site for this programme because it was the base of the country’s only oncologist. It also had the only radiotherapy unit in Ethiopia. In addition, starting the project at the main university hospital of Ethiopia was likely to have a greater impact on medical policies and education.
The project is conducted as a partnership between Tikur Anbessa Hospital, AXIOS (www.axios-group.com) and AstraZeneca (www.astrazeneca.com). AstraZeneca has provided the financial support for the five-year project and has donated (tamoxifen citrate) NOLVADEXÒ and (anastrozole). ARIMIDEXÒ. The Ministry of Health, other Ethiopian University hospitals and private hospitals in Addis Ababa have also collaborated and participated in workshops to develop guidelines.
ARIMIDEX and NOLVADEX are trademarks, the property of the AstraZeneca group of companies.
Clinical Oncology is owned by the Royal College of Radiologists.
By Mike Meno, The Gazette
The aromas of incense and freshly ground coffee filled the Takoma Park Community Center on Saturday during a reception for the city’s first art exhibit to exclusively showcase local Ethiopian artists.
The exhibit, which will be on display throughout March, features the photography and paintings of four professionals, all originally from Ethiopia, as well as about a dozen Ethiopian students from Piney Branch Elementary School.
Setegn Atenaw plays the mesinko, a violin-like instrument widely played in Ethiopia, for a crowd gathered Saturday. (Photo: Naomi Brookner)
Alice Sims, who organized the exhibit through her Takoma Park-based nonprofit group, Art for the People, said the show was meant to provide an opportunity for cultural exchange between the area’s large Ethiopian population and the community.
Several dozen people attended the reception Saturday, which included an Ethiopian coffee ceremony, Ethiopian food donated by local restaurants, and the music of Setegn Atenaw, who plays the mesinko, a one-string Ethiopian instrument.
Artist Matewos Legesse came dressed in a traditional white shirt, pants and shoes that he said would be worn to formal events in Ethiopia. Legesse contributed several paintings to the exhibit, many depicting women and apples painted in vivid colors.
‘‘The colors of Africa are so bright, very colorful,” said artist Debebe Tesfaye, whose paintings of Ethiopian market scenes also featured vibrant colors, which he said is a reflection of the dress and culture of the east African nation.
Photographer Andarge Asfaw, who came to the United States in 1972 and lives and works in Silver Spring, said he has traveled to five continents, but nothing compares to being able to capture images of his homeland.
Asfaw’s photos at the exhibit were from a trip back to Ethiopia he took in the 1990s and illustrated scenes that included wheat fields, mountains, churches and marketplaces.
‘‘When you travel to a new place, you have no idea what it’s like; you have no understanding of the culture,” he said. ‘‘But when you travel back to a country after 27 years, you can see if it moved backward or forward.”
To Asfaw, Ethiopia has moved backward in one major way. Three decades ago, he said, the country was 80 percent forest, but as nomads cut down trees for cooking and fires, that number is down to 3 percent.
One of Asfaw’s photographs showed an Ethiopian market built around a large tree with far-reaching branches — an image he says is very rare in Ethiopia these days. He said he is trying to use art as a way to alleviate the problem of deforestation, and profits from his recent book will go toward the county-based nonprofit group Trees for the Future.
Tebabu Assefa, a member of the Takoma Park Community Action Group, which co-sponsored the event, said he wanted to give the public a chance to see Ethiopian culture, but also allow local Ethiopians to embrace their own traditions.
‘‘Each community has its own rich history, rich culture, but all of them are busy in life,” said Assefa, who came to the United States from Ethiopia in the 1980s. ‘‘They’re busy assimilating and trying to make art, and they don’t have the opportunity to bring their culture out.”
Next to the main exhibit, in the passageway that leads to the atrium’s main hallway, hangs the art of several Ethiopian students from Piney Branch Elementary School.
Rachna Rikhye, the ESOL teacher at Piney Branch, said she was approached by Sims after collaborating with Art for the People on a previous project. She thought it would be a great way to involve her Ethiopian students, several of whom drew self-portraits for the exhibit.
‘‘The kids really enjoyed themselves and had a very positive experience,” Rikhye said. ‘‘They showed a lot of pride in their culture.”
Asfaw said that kind of community involvement was welcomed by the artists.
‘‘It’s great,” he said. ‘‘You appreciate the community to be able to embrace and appreciate our work and support our causes.”
በወ/ሪት ብርቱካን ሚደቅሳ የሚመራው የቀድሞው የቅንጅት አመራር ‹አንድነት ለዴሞክራሲና ለፍትህ› በሚል አዲስ ስያሜ ፓርቲ ለማቋቋም ከምርጫ ቦርድ ህግ ውጭ በቅድሚያ ስያሜውን እንዲያቀርብ በተጠየቀው መሰረት ከትናንት በስቲያ ማመልከቻውን ቢያቀርብም እስከዛሬ ባሉት ቀናት ‹በደብዳቤው ላይ የሚፈርም ሰው የለም› በሚል ሰበብ የመስራች አባላት ፊርማ ማሰባሰቢያ ፈቃዱን ሊሰጣቸው እንዳልቻለ ምንጮቻችን ጠቆሙ፡፡
የአንድነት ለዴሞክራሲና ለፍትህ አመራሮች ፈቃዱን በአስቸኳይ በማግኘት በተለያዩ የአገሪቱ ክልሎች በመጓዝ አባላት የማደራጀትና መስራች አባላትን የማሰባሰብ እቅድ ቢኖራቸውም ብዙዎች እንደገመቱት ምርጫ ቦርድ አሳማኝ ባልሆኑ ምክንያቶች ሂደቱን ማራዘም መጀመሩ ሁኔታውን አሳሳቢ አድርጎታል፡፡ ደብዳቤውን ለማግኘት አመራሩ ለነገ መቀጠሩንም ምንጮቻችን ጠቁመዋል፡፡
Country Reports on Human Rights Practices
Released by the Department of State’s Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor
March 11, 2008
Human rights abuses reported during the year included: limitation on citizens’ right to change their government during the most recent elections; unlawful killings, and beating, abuse, and mistreatment of detainees and opposition supporters by security forces; poor prison conditions; arbitrary arrest and detention, particularly of those suspected of sympathizing with or being members of the opposition or insurgent groups; detention of thousands without charge and lengthy pretrial detention; infringement on citizens’ privacy rights and frequent refusal to follow the law regarding search warrants; use of excessive force by security services in an internal conflict and counter-insurgency operations; restrictions on freedom of the press; arrest, detention, and harassment of journalists for publishing articles critical of the government; restrictions on freedom of assembly; limitations on freedom of association; violence and societal discrimination against women and abuse of children; female genital mutilation (FGM); exploitation of children for economic and sexual purposes; trafficking in persons; societal discrimination against persons with disabilities and religious and ethnic minorities; and government interference in union activities, including killing and harassment of union leaders… Security forces committed politically motivated killings during the year. Security forces committed arbitrary killings during the year. For example, on January 16, two police officers beat, shot, and killed Tesfaye Taddese, who was an organizer for the opposition Coalition for Unity and Democracy (CUD) during the 2005 parliamentary elections. An autopsy later revealed that the victim had lost several teeth and one eye from the beating before being shot. The police officers were arrested and an investigation was ongoing at year’s end… Read more >>
Evaluating U.S. Policy Objectives and Options on the Horn of Africa
Testimony Before the U.S. Senate Committee on Foreign Relations
Subcommittee on African Affairs
March 11, 2008
Theresa Whelan, Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for African Affairs
Office of the Secretary of Defense
Washington, D.C.
Introduction
Good morning, Chairman Feingold, distinguished Members of the Committee. Thank you for the opportunity to speak to you today about the situation in the Horn of Africa, and the Department of Defense’s activities in the region. Africa, and the Horn of Africa in particular, is a region of great strategic importance to the United States. At the crossroads of Sub-Saharan Africa and the Near East, the Horn presents a series of complex threats to U.S. national security, including weak governance, lawlessness, territorial disputes, and safe havens for terrorism. If ignored or unaddressed, all of these issues will have dire consequences for the people of the Horn, for the broader region, for our friends and Allies on the continent, and for the United States. We believe that a coordinated U.S. foreign and national security policy in the Horn of Africa, of which our defense relations are a component, is of critical importance to U.S. strategic and security interests.
Department of Defense in the Horn
The Department of Defense’s activities in the Horn are a subset of the U.S. national strategy for Africa, as outlined by the President in National Security Presidential Directive 50, and support the Department of State’s foreign policy goals of countering terrorism and building local capacity. Our activities with African partners focus on issues of mutual strategic concern, including the elimination of terrorist safe havens, prevention of arms and human trafficking, and ensuring enduring access to land and sea lanes of communication. We address these security interests by working with African partners to promote civilian control and defense reform, and to build local military capacity. This is achieved by ensuring their militaries are appropriately sized and funded, by
professionalizing militaries through training to develop and maintain well-trained and disciplined forces with a respect for law and human rights, and by building capacity of African partner militaries that positively contribute to combating terrorism, and that prevent and respond to national and regional crises. Theater security cooperation remains the cornerstone of our strategy to enhance partner capabilities and to promote these relationships and common interests. Within the Horn, our engagement and activities are governed by the realities of regional instability and our bilateral relationships.
Ethiopia
The security situation in Ethiopia remains challenging and complex, with profound regional implications. One area of significant concern is the on-going border dispute between Ethiopia and Eritrea. Both Ethiopia and Eritrea dedicate a significant portion of military resources and efforts to manning the border region, and we remain concerned about the possibility for renewal of hostilities along the border. We believe that any return to conflict between Ethiopia and Eritrea would undermine stability throughout the entire region.
Beyond the border, Ethiopia is facing genuine security concerns in the Ogaden region. The Ogaden National Liberation Front (ONLF) continues to wage a separatist movement in the Ogaden region with outside support, including from neighboring Eritrea. Following the April 2007 attack that killed nine Chinese oil workers and more than 70 Ethiopians, the Government of Ethiopia increased its operations in a coordinated counterinsurgency campaign in the region. As a result, we have seen increased military operations coupled with restrictions on commercial traffic and humanitarian access. We continue to monitor the situation in the Ogaden, but given that we no longer have the level of access that we previously had to the region, we are unable to confirm the actual facts on the ground. We are, however, acutely aware that for a counterinsurgency campaign to be successful, the military must respect the local civilian populace.
