Mobile Clinic Brings Healthcare to Women in West Africa

March 2025

For many women in West Africa, access is a roadblock to healthcare. 

The team from the Robert J. Havey, MD Institute for Global Health, University of Sciences, Techniques, and Technologies of Bamako (USTTB), and University of Ibadan, has found a way to navigate through those roads. 

With the “Health on the Roll” mobile clinics (“Santé en Route” in French), the team brings cancer care directly to patients. These mobile clinics are staffed by experienced local health care workers who know their communities. 

Health on the Roll mobile clinic provides HPV testing and treatment to women in Mali and Nigeria.

In high income countries, cancer control strategies such as human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccination and screening have led to a steep decline in cervical cancer. But in areas where this project operates, these approaches are still largely inaccessible to women. 

Spearheading the team from the Center for Global Oncology are Lifang Hou, MD, PhD, center director, and Mamoudou Maiga, MD, PhD, center associate director. 

“The work we do is necessary because cervical cancer is highly preventable with the right simple tools and approach,” Hou says.  

The consortium is focused on HPV-associated cancer control and screening in West Africa, and the mobile clinics serve rural areas in Mali and Nigeria. 

“This makes it a very rewarding area to work in in women’s health,” Hou continues. 

Right now, the highest rates of cervical cancer incidence and related death occur in sub-Saharan Africa. This project brings mobile testing clinics to rural areas in Nigeria and Mali, where women can receive education on cervical cancer screening, testing for HPV, and in many cases, necessary treatment the same day. 

By bringing specialized health care to the areas it is most needed, the Health on the Roll team creates opportunities for women in West Africa and beyond.  

“We are making cervical cancer screening easier, more accessible, and more cost effective by bringing it to women where they live,” Hou shares.  

“This approach can be a blueprint for cervical cancer screening anywhere,” Hou says.

HPV-Associated Cancers Prevention and Control Program – Health on the Roll / Santé en Route is supported by the John R. Flanagan Foundation. 

The Center for Global Oncology is a shared center with the Robert H. Lurie Comprehensive Cancer Center of Northwestern University and Havey Institute for Global Health.  

Lifang Hou, MD, PhD, is a member of the Institute for Public Health and Medicine (IPHAM). Hou and Mamoudou Maiga, MD, PhD are members of the Robert J. Havey, MD Insitute for Global Health and Northwestern University Clinical and Translational Sciences Institute (NUCATS). 

To learn more about the Center for Global Oncology, visit their website.  

For details on events, news, and funding opportunities, sign up for the Havey Institute for Global Health newsletter.