Care Within Reach: How the Bristol Myers Squibb Foundation Is Strengthening Health Systems Across Africa

NORTHAMPTON, MA / ACCESS Newswire / September 28, 2026 / Francis Kwoba is a 68-year-old retired policeman from Bungoma County, Kenya. During one of his usual morning runs, he experienced a sudden sharp pain in his chest. Concerned by the symptoms, he sought medical attention at the nearest health facility and was prescribed an anti-tuberculosis medication for treatment. After three months, Francis's chest pain persisted and he began experiencing breathlessness. At Moi Teaching and Referral Hospital (MTRH), doctors found fluid in his lungs and a chest CT scan revealed aggressive lung cancer.

In much of sub-Saharan Africa, that diagnosis can be a death sentence, not because treatment doesn't exist, but because cancer is so often caught too late.