LINKING AND LEARNING

Training Awards in Skin Cancer Prevention and Dermato-Surgery

By Standing Voice

December 15^th, 2017

This November, Standing Voice brought together an array of stakeholders for an experts’ workshop in skin cancer prevention and dermato-surgery. Held over six days in Mwanza City, the workshop aimed to further build local expertise in dermatological healthcare for people with albinism: a critical step forward in our groundbreaking partnership with the Pierre Fabre Foundation.

Key participants included lead clinical trainers Dr Daudi Mavura, Dr Andrew Sharp and Dr Melissa Levin; community dermatologists enrolled in Standing Voice’s Skin Cancer Prevention Programme (Drs Mhini, Nyanda, Simba, Rowa, Baluhya, Materu and Iraba); leading doctors in the referral hospitals with whom we partner (Dr Mavura of the Regional Dermatology Training Centre (RDTC), Dr Rosemary Mushi of Ocean Road Cancer Institute, and Dr Maurice Mavura of Muhimbili National Hospital); social welfare officers from across the Tanzanian Lake Zone (Hilda Marabu and John Kunguku); and representatives from the Tanzania Albinism Society (Alfred Kapole and Helena Paulo) and the Kilimanjaro Sunscreen Production Unit (Crispin Mamkinga), as well as beneficiaries of the Skin Cancer Prevention Programme and the Standing Voice Team, including Tanzanian and UK representatives and trustees.

Gathering so many experts in one place provided new opportunities for cross-fertilisation and understanding: led by Standing Voice Programmes Manager Jamie Walling, participants spent two days identifying areas of strength and improvement in the current delivery of our service, and mapped out recommendations for its future development.

Particularly useful was the opportunity to further embed the Skin Cancer Prevention Programme in a network of specialist referral hospitals, and deepen our understanding of its position within their institutional cultures and processes. Doctors from KCMC Hospital, Ocean Road and Muhimbili shared best practices for making patient referrals, and gave an overview of services and resources available to the Skin Cancer Prevention Programme through their hospitals. Representatives of Kilimanjaro Sunscreen Production Unit provided an update on their work, and continued collaboration with the Skin Cancer Prevention Programme.

The workshop also included two days of practical training for community dermatologists, during clinical delivery at Sekou Toure Hospital. Three specialists—Dr Daudi Mavura, Dr Andrew Sharp and Dr Melissa Levin—were in attendance to mentor community dermatologists and share expertise and insights from the cutting edge of dermatology. During the two days of clinics, each community dermatologist rotated between supervision by all three specialists, receiving in-clinic mentorship while examining and treating patients.

The specialists ran a further two days of surgical training for the community dermatologists, where each had the opportunity to perform a surgical intervention under supervision, increasing their capacity to autonomously deliver surgeries within their local areas. Dr Levin and Dr Mavura introduced a pioneering technique for biopsy delivery, with a small pilot study conducted on site. Finally, after a year of development, Standing Voice fully introduced its new bespoke Electronic Medical Records Database into clinical delivery.

With this workshop, Standing Voice continued to invest in capacity development for dermatologists at the frontier of treatment for people with albinism in Tanzania. Together, we are continuing to build a network of professionals equipped to serve this vulnerable population and halt the skin cancer epidemic in its tracks.