France and Aga Khan Health Services launch major cancer project in East Africa

KENYA – A new health initiative is set to improve cancer care for millions of women in East Africa.

The Aga Khan Health Services (AKHS), in partnership with the French government, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, and the Aga Khan Foundation Tanzania, has launched the East Africa Comprehensive Cancer Project (EA-CCP), aiming to reach 7.4 million people across Kenya and Tanzania.

This four-year project builds on the success of the earlier Tanzania Comprehensive Cancer Project, and is now expanding to include six regions in Tanzania (Dar es Salaam, Mwanza, Dodoma, Arusha, Kilimanjaro, and Zanzibar) and four counties in Kenya (Mombasa, Kisumu, Kilifi, and Homabay).

The initiative has a strong focus on women’s health, targeting the most common cancers in the region — breast and cervical cancer.

The EA-CCP will work to improve access to early detection, prevention, and treatment, particularly at the community level.

The program will include training for health workers, improving cancer care facilities, and running awareness campaigns.

A key element of the project is a mass screening effort. Around 400,000 women are expected to be screened for breast and cervical cancer.

In addition, a large-scale HPV vaccination campaign will be launched to prevent cervical cancer. Each year, the project aims to vaccinate 600,000 girls aged 10–14 in Kenya and 200,000 nine-year-old girls in Tanzania.

Over four years, the campaign hopes to reach 2.4 million girls in Kenya and 800,000 in Tanzania. The Institut Curie, a top cancer research and treatment center in France, will offer expert training and guidance.

France will also send a technical oncology expert to support cancer services at the Aga Khan Hospital in Dar es Salaam for two years.

The total cost of the project is €10.2 million, with funding from the Gates Foundation, Agence Française de Développement (AFD), and Aga Khan Foundation.

At the signing event in Tanzania, key stakeholders, including Her Excellency Anne Sophie Avé, France’s Ambassador to Tanzania, and Dr. Zeenat Sulaiman Khan, Regional CEO of AKHS East Africa, expressed their commitment to improving cancer care in the region.

Dr. Khan highlighted the importance of collaboration, saying, “This project is a unified effort to expand cancer care across key regions in both countries. With our long-standing partnership with France, and support from our public and private partners, we are confident this initiative will create lasting impact.”

The project also involves several regional hospitals and over 100 health facilities previously engaged in the earlier cancer project.