Giving back to their community: ACPA brings US expertise to empower experts, medical students, cancer patients.

The two-phase programme involves screening at the Buea Regional Hospital and Clear Radiology, followed by educational seminars marking the first major medical mission of its kind between Cameroonian diaspora physicians and their home institutions. 

The initiative is driven by the desire of the Cameroonian medical experts to give back something to their community. It ran from Tuesday 24 to Friday 27 March 2026.

Cameroon records an estimated 19,564 new cancer cases each year, with more than 65 percent of patients dying from the disease. Breast and cervical cancers dominate, yet between 58 and 93 percent of cases are diagnosed at advanced stage III or IV, severely limiting survival.

The Vice Chancellor of the University of Buea, represented by Prof Sone Michael Ekonde, the Deputy Vice Chancellor in charge of Teaching, Professionalisation and Development of Information and Communication Technologies, in his welcome address, described the visit as a significant milestone in the university’s commitment to public health and advanced medical training.

“By embarking in a wide screening campaign, we are affirming that early detection of cancer significantly improves survival rates, reduces morbidity, and makes treatment more effective and less expensive. We are open as an institution to constructive partnership…We are hopeful that ACPA and the University of Buea will develop a robust partnership,” he said. 

Dr Luegenia Ndi, President of ACPA (2025–2027) and an internist practising in Lubbock, Texas, USA, led the 200-strong association of Cameroonian physicians practising in more than 25 specialties across the United States.

“Cancer care is very expensive. One patient who has cancer, the costs to treat that patient may be equivalent to the cost of screening 100 patients. So, if you can screen as many as possible and get those early stages of diagnosis, we can stop people from dying unnecessarily,” she told participants. 

She added that the mission aims to empower both health workers and ordinary citizens. 

“We want to sensitise the population…empowering them to ask for this screening, to understand their body, their health,” Dr Ndi said. 

Massive turnout for screening 

Screening on the first day focused on the four most preventable cancers: breast, cervical, colon and prostate, drawing an overwhelming turnout from the population. 

Dr Ndi noted that data collected locally will be particularly valuable because younger women are presenting with breast cancer that are even more aggressive, thus the need to study and understand the underlying causes.

Dr Munoh Foma, Chair of ACPA Medical Missions, described the visit as a “fact-finding mission” that also included partners from Mbingo Baptist Hospital, the Clinton Foundation, Yaoundé Central Hospital and the Cameroon Oncology Centre.

“We designed a two-phase program: screening for the most prevalent, preventable cancers… The second phase is providing continuous education in collaboration with the University of Buea to bridge the knowledge gap. We want to get students interested in oncology. The young generation are the future of tomorrow,” he said. 

Both ACPA leaders and the Vice Chancellor’s representative expressed hope for a formal Memorandum of Understanding between the association and the university. 

The agreement would establish ongoing subsidised screening, national screening protocols to be submitted to the Ministry of Public Health, and regular lecturer exchanges for training the next generation of Cameroonian doctors.

Dr Ndi stressed that the ultimate goal is sustainability.

“Even in our absence, the foundation has already been laid, such that when we come back next time, we are able to evaluate what has happened in the interim and what are the goals for the future,” he noted. 

This article was first published in The Guardian Post Edition No:3743 of Friday March 27, 2026