Purpose: Multiple myeloma (MM) in rural western Kenya is characterized by under and late diagnosis with poor long-term outcomes. Inadequate skilled rural health care teams are partly to blame. The Extension for Community Healthcare Outcomes (ECHO) model attempts to bridge this skills gap by linking rural primary/secondary health care teams (spokes) to myeloma experts in a tertiary care center (hub) in a longitudinal training program.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe rising burden of multiple myeloma in Kenya has not been met by a commensurate effort for control. Patients and practitioners struggle with unavailability and unaffordability of diagnostics, drugs and stem cell transplant leading to presentation at advanced stages and under-treatment with increased morbidities and mortality. A concerted effort among stakeholders is urgently needed to develop strategies for myeloma control.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFDespite improved treatment strategies for multiple myeloma (MM), patient outcomes in low- and middle-income countries remain poor, unlike high-income countries. Scarcity of specialized human resources and diagnostic, treatment, and survivorship infrastructure are some of the barriers that patients with MM, clinicians, and policymakers have to overcome in the former setting. To improve outcomes of patients with MM in Western Kenya, the Academic Model Providing Access to Healthcare (AMPATH) MM Program was set up in 2012.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFPurpose: Treatment patterns and survival outcomes of patients with multiple myeloma (MM) in Kenya have not been adequately characterized. The objectives of this study were to describe the clinical, laboratory, and imaging findings at diagnosis, to describe the treatment offered, and to determine the survival outcomes of patients with MM over an 11-year period.
Patients And Methods: A retrospective chart review was carried out for all patients who were diagnosed and treated for MM at Moi Teaching and Referral Hospital from 2009 to 2019.