The First Ladies of Rwanda and Gabon, Mrs. Jeannette Kagame and Mrs. Sylvia Bongo Ondimba visited the Institut de Cancérologie of Libreville (ICL) and Maison d’Alice. The visit took place on 30 November 2016, on the sidelines of the 8th extraordinary session of the “Conference des Chefs d’Etat et de Gouvernement de la Communauté Economique des Etats de l’Afrique Centrale (CEEAC)”.
During the visit, First Lady Jeannette Kagame was introduced to the latest technology that the Institut de Cancérologie of Libreville is equipped with. The institute offers a variety of services, which include medical oncology, radiotherapy, nuclear medicine, and a laboratory of tumor biology and anatomy pathology.
The institute offers treatments adapted to all patients. All the mentioned services are supported by a Government policy in the fight against cancer, which put forward health insurance to cancer patients at a national scale.
The First Lady of Gabon subsequently invited her counterpart Mrs. Jeannette Kagame to visit the house of life; La Maison d’Alice, named in honor of the first Gabonese woman cured of cancer.
A flagship project of the Sylvia Bongo Ondimba Foundation, the house welcomes cancer patients from remote areas across the country, who do not have convenient accommodation options or reliable means of transport to follow up with their long-term treatment.
In addition to accommodation, La Maison d’Alice also offers social and psychological support to patients to help them brave through the treatment and its side effects.
In the spirit of the sensitization and testing campaigns held during October’s Pink Campaign, Mrs. Kagame was able to meet the staff and some of the residents of the two establishments. Both the Institute de Cancérologie of Libreville, and La Maison d’Alice demonstrate the commitment of the First Lady of Gabon, in the fight against cancer types that affect women.
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