APM Programs

Gastrointestinal Endoscopy Workshop

Africa Partners Medical launched a gastrointestinal endoscopy workshop at Korle Bu Teaching Hospital in Accra, Ghana in 2008 which has since been held yearly. The workshop, which is co-sponsored by the World Gastroenterology Organization, is designed to improve the skills of gastroenterologists and surgeons. Participants hone their diagnostic techniques, and learn to treat problems such as gastrointestinal hemorrhage, polyps, and strictures. 6 to 12 participants from various West African countries have participated each year, returning better equipped to their local communities.

The course faculty includes volunteers from America and Europe. Ghanaian faculty, some of whom attended the first workshop as learners, now play an increasingly important role in teaching. By developing skills, interest, and facilities for gastrointestinal endoscopy, the workshop has contributed to a long-term goal of beginning subspecialty digestive disease training and certification in Ghana.

Viral Hepatitis and Liver Cancer

Volunteers from Africa Partners Medical have worked to build relationships with members of the Somali community in Minnesota to enhance awareness of the high rate of hepatitis B and C virus infection and consequent liver cancer in the community. Recent research from Mayo Clinic which will be presented at the Annual Digestive Disease Week conference in May 2010 has revealed that there are especially high rates of hepatitis C virus infection in the Somali population in Minnesota, and that contrary to expectation, hepatitis C is the major risk factor for development of liver cancer among Somali immigrants in Minnesota. Current guidelines from the CDC and a recent report on hepatitis B and hepatitis C by the Institute of Medicine recommend screening of immigrants from high prevalence countries for hepatitis B virus infection, but there is no recommendation by either organization that immigrants be screened for hepatitis C virus infection. We plan to raise awareness of the risks to minority and immigrant populations of infection by both hepatitis B and C, and hope that our efforts will help change public policy on hepatitis C screening and improve the prevention, identification and treatment of hepatitis in these communities and the surveillance of those already infected for liver cancer so that it can be detected at early stages when it is most amenable to treatment.

West Africa Network for Research and Training in Digestive and Liver Diseases

Digestive and liver diseases, including childhood diarrhea, chronic hepatitis, and liver cancer, contribute considerably to needless illness and death in West Africa. The goal of this network is to foster partnerships and recruit resources for improvements in digestive and liver health in West Africa. Specific projects include:

  • The establishment of a postgraduate training program in Gastroenterology and Hepatology in partnership with the Ghana College of Physicians and Surgeons, the World Gastroenterology Organization (WGO), and the American Gastroenterological Association (AGA).
  • Development of regional medical and surgical centers of excellence in the diagnosis and treatment of digestive and liver diseases and cancers.
  • Development of research databases and biospecimen repositories in multiple medical centers in the West African subregion, in collaboration with the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC).

Training in Minimally-Invasive and Laparoscopic Surgery

Africa Partners Medical volunteers Drs. Juliane Bingener-Casey and Kaye Reid Lombardo have been conducting training workshops in minimally-invasive and laparoscopic surgery at Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital in Kumasi, Ghana for the past several years. This year Dr. Adam Gyedu from KATH presented a poster on the outcomes of the first 25 patients receiving laparoscopic cholecystectomies at KATH between 2010 and 2012 at the annual meeting of the Society of American Gastrointestinal and Endoscopic Surgeons (SAGES) in Baltimore, Maryland.