WOCACA HOST FIND, KILELE Health Pre-Cervical Cancer Africa Meeting
Women’s Coalition Against Cancer – (WOCACA) in partnership with FIND, KILELE Health hosted a targeted collaboration with the Women Empowerment Cancer Advocacy Network (WE CAN) to host a 4-day workshop in Malawi, which brought together representatives from Civil Society Organizations (CSOs) and Community Based Organisations (CBOs) across high-burden countries in Africa.
This is with the background that in the recent past KILELE Health have been coordinating efforts with civil society organizations (CSOs) and community-based organizations (CBOs) from 15 African countries to formulate a unified approach to addressing some of these challenges. The countries currently included Kenya, Malawi, Lesotho, Burundi, Cameroon, Eswatini, Ethiopia, Namibia, Nigeria, South Africa, Rwanda, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia, and Zimbabwe.
The Pre-summit workshop sought to review recent work done by the CSOs and CBOs in collaboration with KILELE Health supported by FIND. This was in reference to IEC materials review 2023, and focus group discussion training and practicum completed in February 2023. The pre-workshop meeting was also convened to explore opportunities for joint advocacy and determine a framework for a coalition that would augment the efforts of the CSOs and CBOs in contributing to the elimination targets for cervical cancer in Africa, with a key focus on screening.
Overall, the Malawi Meeting presented an opportunity for networking, exchanging or ideas, and solidifying of the voices of the different cancer organizations represented, towards the formation of a unified voice for cervical cancer elimination in Africa. As a gesture of unity and solidarity, the meeting ended with the KILELE Health / FIND presenting a donation of non-perishable food stuff to Malawi representatives as a small contribution to support the Country’s Cyclone Freddy response. The donation exercise will be facilitated by WOCACA.
