The Kenya Society for Haematology and Oncology (KESHO), in partnership with the African Organization for Research and Training in Cancer (AORTIC) and with support from the Union for International Cancer Control (UICC) held its 1st Regional Symposium on 19th August 2021 5PM – 8:30PM EAT. 

Due to the ongoing COVID-19 restrictions the event was held virtually and attracted over 600 attendees from all over the globe. The Symposium brought together top regional multi-disciplinary professionals with expertise in screening and early detection to share their research and progress in the field. The speakers were drawn from Africa, Asia and North America. The attendees comprised of oncologists, radiologists, haematologists, medical officers, pharmacists, scientists, students, advocacy groups, cancer survivors and persons living with cancer

The theme of the Symposium was on Innovations and Strategies for Screening and Early Detection for LMICs. WHO projects that cancer will be the leading cause of death globally by the year 2030. A major component of any cancer early detection programme is education to promote early diagnosis and ensure compliance with screening programmes. The cancer epidemic represents a huge challenge to LMICs mainly due to lack of screening and early detection, education and costly infrastructure. This symposium sought to show how strategies for screening and early detection of cancer are essential to reduce the proportion of patients presenting advanced disease stages hence increasing survival rates. The symposium provided a platform to promote knowledge exchange especially with the wide variety of speakers from Africa and across the globe. It also highlighted key innovations and treatment approaches for screening and early detection.

The format included different speaker presentations on various topics, Q&A sessions and illustrative presentations by the sector players.

The interactive Q&A sessions provided attendees an opportunity to address issues raised in the presentations.