Asantehene launches Ghana's first comprehensive cancer centre in Ashanti Region

The construction of a $100 million comprehensive cancer treatment and research facility is underway at Kwaso in the Ejisu Municipality of the Ashanti Region. The construction of the Otumfuo Osei Tutu II Comprehensive Cancer Centre of Excellence (OOTII CCCoE) is aimed at expanding access to cancer care across Ghana and the West African sub-region. The facility is being built on a 52-acre site and named in honour of the Asantehene, Otumfuo Osei Tutu II, who serves as the project's Chief Patron. The five-year initiative is being funded by Breast Care International (BCI), Peace and Love Hospitals, Global Health Catalyst and the University of Pennsylvania, with the overall project costed at $100 million and its first phase estimated at $10 million. Phase One will include a radiotherapy suite, a research wing, an artificial intelligence hub, an education centre and community outreach facilities. Once completed, the centre is expected to house a chemotherapy suite, brachytherapy suite, CT scan simulators, admission wards, laboratories, surgical theatres and recovery wards, and is projected to employ more than 250 people. Dr Beatrice Wiafe Addai, President of Breast Care International and Founding Director of the Centre, said the facility is designed to strengthen Ghana's capacity for advanced cancer care while positioning the country as a hub for medical tourism. "The Centre will also be the hub for medical tourism and stop the movement of cancer patients from Africa to other continents for treatments," she said. The project brings together clinical treatment, research, training and community outreach under a single roof, with support from a wide network of international partners, including Johns Hopkins University, Harvard University and Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, alongside local partners such as KNUST. On the infrastructure side, Ghanaian healthcare solutions company ADB Ghana Medical Systems Group Limited is leading the hospital engineering and construction component of the project, marking the company's expansion from medical equipment supply into broader hospital infrastructure work. The company’s involvement in the project forms part of its broader expansion from medical equipment supply into hospital engineering, construction, maintenance and project management. Established in 2006 by Adann Benjamin Diaz, ADB Ghana Medical Systems has evolved from a medical supplies business into a specialist healthcare solutions provider serving hospitals, government agencies, non-governmental organisations and other institutions within the health sector. ADB is also involved in developing a specialist cardiology facility at the Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital in Kumasi, which has for decades operated without a catheterisation laboratory. ID/VPO Source: GhanaWeb