The partnership project between the Vivantes foundation and the Dr. A. B. May Cancer Centre in Namibia aims to work together to devise state-of-the-art treatment standards adapted to conditions on the ground (standard operating procedures, or SOPs) in order to enhance patient safety, operations and treatment safety.
Problem: Namibia faces what is termed the double burden of disease. Non-communicable diseases like cancers and diabetes occur parallel to communicable diseases like hepatitis, as a result of changes in lifestyle and an ageing population.
Main activities: As part of the project a workshop is to be held in Namibia to jointly identify needs and priorities. Then, an online platform is to be used to jointly develop the prioritised SOPs. At subsequent workshops and during on-the-job training these will be finalised and tested in practice.
Short-term results: The joint development and introduction of SOPs is to reduce errors and render operations more efficient, while ensuring consistently high quality.
Long-term results: The introduction of SOPs should raise the number of patients treated and enhance patient safety.