Home » African Access to Innovative Technologies, Therapies and Resources Special Interest Group

African Access to Innovative Technologies, Therapies and Resources Special Interest Group

Goal

To bridge the cancer innovation gap by facilitating equitable access to cutting-edge diagnostics, treatments, and technologies—including artificial intelligence, interventional oncology, medical device innovations, and advanced therapeutics—across Africa, while collaborating with African Union, governments, health economists, academia, and industry to shape enabling policies, build economic evidence, and drive sustainable adoption of these innovations for the benefit of African cancer patients.

Aims

Establish Africa as an active participant in the global cancer innovation ecosystem through strategic focus on artificial intelligence, interventional oncology, advanced therapeutics, and policy ecosystem development. We will identify priority innovations, develop context-appropriate access pathways, generate health economics evidence for decision-makers, forge multi-stakeholder partnerships with governments, African Union, industry, and academia, advocate for innovation-enabling policies, and build sustainable capacity for adoption of novel therapies, AI-driven diagnostics, and minimally invasive treatments across resource-varied settings.

Key Objectives

Map the Innovation Landscape: Conduct comprehensive assessments of emerging cancer technologies (AI, interventional oncology, medical devices, advanced therapeutics) and their availability across African regions, identifying critical gaps and opportunities.
Lead AI and Digital Innovation: Serve as AORTIC's coordinating hub for artificial intelligence and machine learning applications in cancer care, including AI-powered diagnostics in radiology and pathology, clinical decision support systems, and telemedicine platforms.
Expand Access to Innovative Therapies and Foster African Innovation: Develop frameworks to facilitate access to immunotherapy, targeted treatments, and precision medicine while supporting African-led therapeutic research, biosimilar development, and local pharmaceutical manufacturing.
Champion Interventional Oncology and Medical Device Innovation: Expand access to minimally invasive, image-guided cancer treatments and foster African-led medical device innovation through global biodesign partnerships.
Build Innovation Ecosystems: Collaborate with African Union, governments, industry, and academia to develop evidence-based policies, generate health economics data, strengthen regulatory frameworks, and create enabling environments for innovation adoption.

Projects & Activities

We are actively seeking partners for this project.

Other AORTIC SIGs active in related fields: AORTIC’s Advocacy, Clinical Trials and Pathology SIGs work in areas that intersect with innovation access and implementation. This SIG will coordinate with them on cross-cutting initiatives.

Get Involved

Dr Abiola Ibraheem

African Access to Innovative Technologies, Therapies and Resources Special Interest Group