Apologies for the delayed update; the last 2 years seem like a blur in which both years merged into each other. So much has happened, it is difficult to know where to start. The devastation from the ongoing pandemic is in the forefront of my thoughts. My heart goes out to all those who lost love ones to Covid-19, and for those who are battling the aftermath of the disease even after they survived it. To the front-line health workers on every continent, a thank you seems a paltry gesture; you have sacrificed so much.
Despite our inability to travel due to Covid restrictions, thewomen.org has much to be proud of as we continue to work with our international partners with a focus on Liberia. Last year, we worked to establish the only pathology lab in the country at the JFK Memorial Hospital in Liberia through a generous donation from the Gordon Family of New York. We worked closely with the American Society of Clinical Pathology, the Sakura Company and One Point Solutions to build and equip one of the most modern laboratories in sub Saharan Africa that began processing specimens in October 2019.
2019: A special thanks to our Executive Director, Molly Lieber who undertook the herculean task of designing and overseeing the installation of the lab, to Dan Milner of the ASCP who guided us through the process, the Sakura Company for their equipment donations and training and One Point Solutions for the virtual design and manufacturing of our lab furnishings. The many ASCP volunteers were invaluable to the training and opening of the lab, but a special thank you goes out to Linda Cherepow who led that effort and trained four pathology technicians in Liberia; they are the first and only trained pathology technicians in the country. A thank you to the administrative staff at JFK Hospital, Dr Jerry Brown, Dr Sia Camanor and Ms Dama Koffa and the Minister of Health of Liberia, Dr. Wilhelmina Jallah for their help and support to make this possible. Lastly, we are deeply grateful to Dominic Dixon whose transportation company provided the on-the-ground transportation logistics for all the equipment and consumables for the lab. The lab is currently under the directorship of Dr. Zoebon Kparteh, a Liberian pathologist, with whom we continue to work.
Our Executive Director and I traveled to Trinidad in November 2019 to support the Southern Foundation For Better Health’s initiative to raise funds for a women’s infusion facility at the San Fernando General Hospital in Trinidad. It was my privilege to deliver the Key-Note address and meet some of the strong and powerful women working to improve health for the residents in the southern region of the country.
2020: This year we created the Ranee Palone Flynn Global Cancer Initiative Scholarship in memory of our dearly beloved Executive Director Ranee Flynn. We selected our first RPF scholar, Dr. Deazee Saywon from Liberia, who started a 2-year fellowship in gynecologic oncology at the Uganda Cancer Institute under the auspices of the International Gynecologic Cancer Society (IGCS) in November 2020. We are indebted to Laura Mercier whose generous donation kick-started this scholarship. We look forward to building the RPF scholarship program to support the training of low and -middle income country (LMIC) candidates in the field of women’s cancers in the upcoming years.
Our team has been working on an Ovarian Cancer Survivors platform that will be available for viewing on World Cancer Day February 4th 2021. A diverse group of women who have survived ovarian cancer volunteered their time to provide support and information for those newly diagnosed with ovarian cancer. Stephen Harris has been working with the women over the past year to produce this video, and we are very grateful for his expertise.
Our work was recognized this year by the Society of Gynecologic Oncology (SGO) in the form of an award for humanitarianism and volunteerism that I humbly accepted on behalf of our team. A happy and healthy New Year to all, as we move forward to build on the progress we have made to date.
Ann Marie Beddoe MD MPH
Board Member, thewomen.org