Identifying Cancer in Kenya with Abdulrizak Hudow

In Kenya, we met a young, ambitious doctor, Abdulrizak Hudow. As a medical student, he captured and analyzed cancer data in Wajir, a county in Northeastern Kenya. His research received a lot of interest and he was invited to present his paper at several international journals. Cancer is a big problem in Africa. It's recognized as the third largest killer beyond communicable diseases and heart disease. Kenya estimates 28,000 new cases each year. An estimated 22,000 die each year. But its impact is probably much greater than what is documented. Kenya and Africa as a whole has very little data on the prevalence of cancer. Most cases go untreated. And even those patients who do get medical treatment, their data isn't captured at a national level. We met Abdul at a lunch put on by Merck. We quickly recognized his passion for cancer research. He wants to uncover the realities of cancer and unleash resources that are needed to help relieve the suffering it causes. It's a big problem. The kind we like to tackle. And it is perfectly aligned with our mission of *relieving suffering with data*. Since meeting Abdul, we've identified a university that will enable us to ethically collect cancer data. At the same time, we are in discussion with KEMRI, Kenya's CDC, and Kenyatta Hospital, the country's largest public hospital. We are at the beginning of this major effort. We'll keep you updated as we get further along.