“When we want to judge the greatness of a civilization, we must not look at the dwellings of the rich, but the hospices for the poor “
Over the past 21 months (ending December 30,2025) the following initiatives have been accomplished at the Biamba Marie Mutombo (BMMH) hospital led by Dr. Groesbeck Parham and includes Dr. Michael Hicks and Dr. Ronda Henry-Tillman (all U.S. trained board-certified surgeons).
(1) Trained a local Congolese professional workforce (2 breast cancer surgeons; 2 gynecologic cancer surgeons; 3 nurses) to provide cervical and breast cancer early detection services and complex, state-of-the art surgical oncology procedures.
(2) Established two new women’s cancer specialty clinics for the early detection of breast and cervical cancer - 1,811 women screened for breast cancer; 18,427 screened for cervical cancer
(3) Established two new surgical units for the modern treatment of breast and cervical cancer
(4) Designed and implemented a “screen and treat’ cervical cancer prevention outreach program – 2,075 women screened for cervical pre-cancer
(5) Implemented professional educational exchange programs between BMMH and the University Teaching Hospital in Lusaka, and the University of Arkansas School of Medicine in Little Rock
- Congolese professional staff from BMMH attended the following hands-on educational seminars:
- “Safe and effective administration of chemotherapy for breast and
gynecologic malignancies” (4 weeks) - University Teaching
Hospital in Lusaka - 2 doctors
- “Modern methods of diagnosing and managing breast
cancer” (4weeks) - University of Arkansas School of Medicine in
Little Rock - 1 general surgeon
- “Early detection and treatment of pre-invasive cancer of the cervix
in resource-constrained environments” (4 weeks) - University
Teaching Hospital in Lusaka - 2 doctors, 3 nurses
(6) Launched a surgical tele mentoring program
(7) Established a women’s oncology database
(8) Designed culturally-appropriate health education literature on cervical and breast cancer
(9) Developed interactive e-learning courses on the following subjects: Click on https://smu.box.com/s/ragjtciiaxuwpeybkapr0g0r8rx9f541then go to Master Document with Course Links
- Breast Cancer Detection and Diagnosis
- Cervical Cancer Early Detection and Treatment
- Leadership Essentials
(10) Used web-based Zoom videoconferencing to facilitate continuing education and to develop an international women’s oncology community of practice, consisting of healthcare professionals from the DRC, Zambia and the U.S.
(11) Established protocols and pricing with private sector pathology services, including immunohistochemistry for breast cancer
(12) Trained a local Congolese professional workforce (2 doctors, 2 nurses) to safely and effectively administer chemotherapy for breast and gynecologic malignancies
(13) Established a Chemotherapy Infusion Unit targeting breast and gynecologic malignancies
In summary, under the auspices of the newly created DRC Women’s Oncology Institute for the first-time women in the DRC have been able to access the following cancer prevention, early detection and treatment services:
Cervical cancer
- 20,000 screened for cervical cancer
- 1,000 treated for cervical pre-cancer
- 26 treated surgically for invasive cervical cancer
Breast cancer
- 1,800 women screened
- 457 evaluated with ultrasound
- 98 women treated with surgery for breast cancer
Chemotherapy
Chemotherapy agents were successfully procured
March 4- 9th – Dr. Groesbeck Parham and his oncology team conducted a cervical cancer screening mobile outreach camp in the district of Kimbondo outside the capital city of Kinshasa. Number of women screened = 684. From July 2016 to March 2018 at total of 16,179 women have been screened by Dr. Parham, his Zambian team and the Biamba Marie Mutombo Hospital medical staff.