Delegation From Mbarara University of Science and Technology, Uganda Collaborates with KNUST to Advance Cervical Cancer Research in Sub-Saharan Africa
A delegation from Mbarara University of Science and Technology (MUST) Uganda, on 17th July, 2023 paid a courtesy visit to the College of Health Sciences of the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, (CHS-KNUST), to reaffirm and discuss their ongoing five (5)-year collaborative research on Cervical Cancer in Sub-Sahara Africa. The delegation was received by Professor Christian Agyare, the Provost of the College of Health Sciences and Professor Daniel Ansong, the Dean of the School of Medicine and Dentistry, KNUST.
The five-year partnership, supported by the National Institute of Health in the United States of America (USA), aims to utilise data science, machine learning, and artificial intelligence to improve cervical cancer diagnostics and treatment. Cervical cancer is the most common cancer found among women in Ghana and Uganda.
Speaking on the visit, Professor Celestino Obua, the Vice-Chancellor of MUST, revealed that they have been collaborating with the College of Health Sciences for the past two (2)-years in the Data Science Research Hub which is part of the larger Data Science Africa Initiative. He added that as the collaboration enters its third year, there is a need to leverage and develop data science expertise at the research hubs to combine AVE-based screening conducted by healthcare workers at peripheral health facilities with geospatial analysis and needs-driven assessment to scale-up of cervical cancer screening in Ghana and Uganda.
The research is being conducted at the Mbarara Regional Referral Hospital (MRRH) and the Komfo-Anokye Teaching Hospital (KATH), affiliated with the Mbarara University of Science and Technology (MUST) and Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST), in Mbarara, Uganda and Kumasi, Ghana respectively.
Professor Celestino Obua was accompanied by Dr. Edith Wakida, the Deputy Director of Mbarara University Data Science Research Hub (MUDSREH), Dr. William Wasswa and Ms. Betty Mabisi, all members of MUDSREH
