Building African oncology pharmacy capacity through digital and onsite training
The program will have three components: a digital lecture series, an onsite hands-on training, and ongoing digital mentorship and knowledge exchange. The hands-on training will take place in four countries, representing four African regions: 1) Côte d'Ivoire 2) Nigeria 3) Cameroon 4) Kenya
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Objectives
Learning Objectives
The digital and on-site training programs will be designed to improve participants’ confidence and knowledge in the training topics and inform pharmacy policy and practice. The following training topics were selected based on the results of BVGH’s needs assessments and interviews with African cancer leaders, and will include the following:
Digital training topics and learning objectives:
- Introduction to cancer chemotherapy
- Chemotherapy dosing and dose scheduling
- Chemotherapy reconstitution/mixing and compounding
- Determining chemotherapy regimens for specific cancers – including newer agents
- Management of chemotherapy side effects
- Combination vs. single-agent chemotherapy regimens
- Dose banding
- Waste management and destruction of expired products
- Chemotherapy safety, managing accidental exposures, and surveillance
- Developing and updating SOPs
- Clinical research and pharmacy roles and best practices
On-site training topics and learning objectives:
- Create site-specific SOPs
- Demonstrate and practice oncology pharmacy techniques and best practices
- Modify pharmacy’s workflow to improve safety and efficiency
- Demonstrate and practice safe handling and disposal of cancer medicines
- Create materials and curriculum to train new staff, visiting pharmacy fellows, and local pharmacy students
- Create processes and documentation methods to use during clinical research
Through its African Access Initiative (AAI), BVGH has engaged healthcare leaders and cancer care providers at hospitals across six African countries – Cameroon, Côte d’Ivoire, Kenya, Nigeria, Rwanda, and Senegal – to understand their cancer capabilities and gaps across the cancer continuum of care. Through needs assessments and interviews, healthcare leaders have emphasized to BVGH that their staff are insufficiently trained to manage chemotherapy medicines in a safe and effective manner. In addition, pharmacy staff are not well-versed in managing and supporting cancer research projects. Leaders have emphasized the need for basic and advanced didactic and hands-on training, mentorship, and support for their pharmacists and other healthcare providers who handle and manage chemotherapies.
This program will consist of three modules. Each module will be refined based on the particular needs, priorities, and infrastructure of the participants’ facilities. Training programs will be led by leading oncology pharmacists and experts sourced from BVGH’s extensive network of global oncology practitioners. The goal of this program will be to improve oncology pharmacy practitioners and oncology healthcare providers’ confidence and knowledge in basic and advanced oncology pharmacy concepts.
Geographic Reach
- Africa
Disease Area
- Non-communicable diseases
Partner organizations
BIO Ventures for Global Health (BVGH)
Geographic Reach
Africa
- Cameroon
- Côte d'Ivoire
- Kenya
- Nigeria
Disease Area
Non-communicable diseases
- Cancer