A doctor’s journey towards leading cervical cancer care in Sierra Leone

Freetown–Dr Rosalitta Jaida Toogbabu, a resident physician at Princess Christian Maternity Hospital in Sierra Leone, had actually observed an extreme hysterectomy just two times and had actually never ever taken part in the treatment. Thanks to continuous training and mentorship throughout surgical camps, she can now expect the next actions of the operation.

“Before I joined the surgical camps for radical hysterectomy, I had read about it in books,” she remembers. “I had zero skills, but I was ready to learn fast, knowing well that it is energy and time consuming.”

Princess Christian Maternity Hospital is Sierra Leone’s only tertiary maternal health center. Dr Toogbabu has actually been getting training at the center through the nation’s Cervical Cancer Elimination Initiative (CCEI). Considering that 2024, a series of surgical camps performed by the Ministry of Health, through south-south partnership with the Ministry of Health in Zambia and supported by World Health Organization (WHO), Friends of Africa and other partners, have actually brought global knowledge to Sierra Leone, providing 15 females identified with early-stage cervical cancer access to complex, life-saving surgical treatment, while training regional professionals the nation requires to sustain these services.

Dr Toogbabu can indicate the minute when she initially felt her change.

Throughout the most current camps, kept in December 2025 and July 2026, she discovered herself preparing for the procedure instead of just following along. “I had more responsibility during the last camp, and I had to step up because we had surgeons from other country joining us,” she stated.

This growing self-confidence has actually improved how Dr Toogbabu sees her clients and her specialized. Cervical cancer, she describes, was as soon as an almost-certain death sentence for numerous ladies in Sierra Leone. Seeing females’s health enhance camp after camp has actually altered her understanding.

The course has actually not been simple. The health center operates on repaired scientific schedules, so Dr Toogbabu typically gets here early and remains late to finish her ward responsibilities throughout camps, depending on associates to cover for her when required. Mentorship, she states, has actually brought her through the challenging minutes. She credits Dr Michael Ezeanochie, a gynaecology oncologist who leads her department and has actually mentored regional groups given that the effort started in 2024.

While checking out worldwide specialists, assisted by Dr Samson Chisele and Dr Groesbeck Parham from Zambia, led in the earlier camps, Dr Ezeanochie led the 2026 camp on his own. “We have talented and highly motivated doctors in Sierra Leone. With continued mentorship, exposure and institutional support, there is every reason to be optimistic about the future,” states Ezeanochie.

For Dr Toogbabu, finding out a treatment that when needed Sierra Leonean ladies to look for care abroad brings individual in addition to expert weight. She has actually long desired a profession in gynaecological oncology and the camps, she states, are bringing that objective within reach.

She is honest, nevertheless, about what still stands in between her and independent practice. “My training will not suffice. I require direct exposure to a high volume of cases in centres where such treatments are carried out day-to-day or weekly, in addition to training in other elements of gynaecological oncology that are not presently offered in Sierra Leone,” she states.

With the abilities and experience she has actually currently obtained and those she wants to get in the future, Dr Toogbabu plans to enhance cervical cancer avoidance efforts, broaden oncology services and add to forming nationwide policies and training programs in Sierra Leone and beyond.

“We are gradually moving to specialized care, and we hope to someday provide expert care with dedication, discipline and appropriate support,” she states.