Tanzania / Kenya: Joining forces to raise awareness of blood cancers

The Blood Cancer Foundation of Tanzania (BCFT), a non-governmental organization officially registered on November 1, 2021, with registration number ooNGO/R/2479, works to advocate for improved blood cancer treatment in Tanzania. The foundation’s mission is to advocate for improved healthcare and outcomes for blood cancer patients in Tanzania through advocacy activities.

BCFT has two main objectives:

1. to promote public awareness about blood cancer diagnosis and treatment, and
2. to advocate for stakeholder collaboration in research programs and improving access to blood cancer treatments.

To fulfill its mission, BCFT focuses on increasing public awareness of diagnosis and treatment while simultaneously encouraging collaboration among stakeholders in research and access improvement.

Event Summary

The BCFT observed Blood Cancer Awareness Month (BCAM) by hosting its annual World Leukemia Awareness Month event on Saturday, September 27, 2025, at the Mwalimu Nyerere Hall, Ocean Road Cancer Institute (ORCI) in Dar Es Salaam. The event successfully gathered blood cancer patients, caregivers, clinicians, doctors, hematologists, advocates, and other stakeholders to discuss and raise awareness about the importance of early diagnosis and improved patient outcomes.

The day’s program was specifically designed to strengthen advocacy efforts and serve as a platform for sharing experiences and best practices, focusing on topics of high importance to leukemia patients.

Key Discussions and Highlights

The event featured several impactful sessions, including:

• The Patient Voice: Survivors offered honest talks about their journeys, sharing challenges such as stigma, cost, distance to care, and emotional burden, alongside their hopes for better care in the future. This was followed by Breaking the News, a segment where Dr. Hamisa and a survivor performed a short role-play on the diagnosis Moment.
• Patient Rights and Advocacy: Attendees received crucial information on Knowing Your Rights as a Patient—understanding their rights in accessing care, information, and dignity—and the Power of Patient Advocacy—how patient voices influence policy and shape the future of cancer care.
• Breaking the Stigma Around Blood Cancers: A key session focused on how to challenge myths, stigma, and misconceptions that often silence patients.
• Living Well with Blood Cancer: This session provided practical information on coping strategies, mental health, nutrition, and lifestyle tips for patients and caregivers.

Guest of Honor’s Message

Elo Mapelu, Chairperson of Henzo, Kenya, and a steering committee member of the Acute Leukemia Advocates Network (ALAN), was the Guest of Honor. Mr. Mapelu was also a panelist on The Power of Patient Advocacy, sharing his experience as a founding member of Henzo Kenya and growing it into a large organization with global partners. He encouraged BCFT to continue building impact in the blood cancer advocacy community and specifically urged the foundation to seek partnership with Henzo Kenya to unite patient voices across the entire East Africa Region.

Mr. Mapelu, who also works as a program coordinator at The Max Foundation, pledged his support to BCFT, encouraging them to bring all patients together and commending the organization for maintaining a good working relationship with the healthcare team.

There was further discussion on challenges such as travelling to the hospital; patients often have to travel significant distances to the capital for treatment. This contributes to high transport costs, making instances of patients skipping clinic visits quite common. Another challenge is stigma; There’s a deep issue with stigma fueled by myths and misconceptions that leukemia is caused by witchcraft, sadly leading some patients to abandon treatment altogether. It was noted that there is need to have more advocates. Having more leukemia patients step forward to speak openly about their treatment journeys would greatly help address this.

The program concluded by recognizing The Heroes—the sacrifices of caregivers and medical personnel— and included a recognition of Halima, an 18-year-old Acute Leukemia patient who overcame deep family stigma and rejection after being diagnosed at age 13. She is going on with her treatment and living her best possible life.