Dr. Chantal Gamba Félicité

Medical Coordinator, MSF



Point G Hospital

Bamako, Mali



The scale of women’s cancer in Mali is truly alarming. The prevalence is very high, with a high case fatality rate.



MSF teams have been supporting

the oncology department at Point G Hospital

since 2018 and have been providing chemotherapy care,

which is very difficult to access in Mali, since 2020



As you know, for a patient to be able to undergo chemotherapy, we must be sure that the patient will tolerate the treatment.



To achieve this, patients are required to undergo a number of examinations, which we call "pre-chemotherapy" tests. Once the patient’s assessment is completed, the oncologist will confirm and determine whether they can proceed to chemotherapy.



In this hospital, each year,

some 600 cases of breast cancer

are diagnosed and

nearly 300 deaths are recorded



We can estimate that, on average, 30 patients per day come here for their chemotherapy.



More than 3,400 women

affected by cancer

have been supported

by MSF since 2020



There are several reasons why women arrive late in health facilities, including lack of resources, lack of knowledge of the disease and the lack of health facilities that carry out systematic screening.



To reverse the trend, vaccination [against human papillomavirus] remains very important because normally, a child should be vaccinated from the age of 11.



And this will help prevention and prevent children from developing this type of disease when they grow up. So that's important.



MSF teams also provide

psychosocial support to patients



They continue to work with

the Ministry of Health to facilitate

access to diagnosis

and treatment for women's cancers