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Improving breast cancer care: Patient Navigation in Ghana

As part of the broader Roche Africa Breast Cancer Ambition (ABCA), a digital health initiative in Ghana is utilising RedPath - a Roche proprietary digital mobile application - across national tertiary hospitals to streamline the care journey for breast cancer patients. Launched in March 2026 through a collaborative partnership across national tertiary hospitals and Roche, the programme addresses critical delays in diagnosis and treatment tracking. By equipping nurses who act as patient navigators, with real-time digital tools, the initiative aims to improve access to care, strengthen referral pathways and provide health authorities with data-driven insights to systematically reduce barriers to oncology treatment.

What public health challenge does the initiative address?

Breast cancer remains a significant clinical challenge in West Africa, where historically a lack of population-based registries has restricted health systems from accurately tracking patient drop-off points.1 Baseline projections from the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) Cancer Tomorrow platform show that Ghana registered 5,026 new breast cancer cases and 2,369 related deaths in 2022. Without strategic health system interventions, these numbers are expected to scale dramatically by 2040, with annual incidence projected to reach 8,728 cases and annual mortality rising to 4,174 deaths.2 Data-driven infrastructure frameworks are specifically designed to help local healthcare networks counteract this trend.

Prior to this digital health initiative, health systems lacked clear visibility into drop-off points within the patient journey. Baseline metrics from the first three months of RedPath data indicate that a patient waits an average of 82 days from screening entry to treatment. 

This timeline includes: 

  • 42 days from screening to diagnosis, 

  • 28 days for clinical investigation, and 

  • 12 days from treatment planning to therapy initiation. 

At Cape Coast Teaching Hospital (CCTH), uncovering this 42-day diagnosis delay led to an adjustment in the frequency of the Multidisciplinary team (MDT) meetings: from bi-weekly in-person meetings to on-demand digital reviews whenever a patient file is ready, helping to reduce waiting times.

Barriers to early diagnosis

During the initial three months, navigators registered 33 specific barriers to care across 319 enrolled patients. 

The primary challenges identified include: 

  • Financial constraints.

  • Patient fear.

  • Transport hurdles.

  • Mystical beliefs (traditional healers).

  • Lack of mobile phones for reminders.

By categorising these invisible barriers, the platform provides data-driven insights that help the Ministry of Health prioritise resources effectively to keep patients in care.

How does the programme operationalise the Africa Breast Cancer Ambition?

Our overarching ambition at Roche is to significantly improve breast cancer survival rates across Africa. Today, the regional reality remains challenging – only 5 in 10 women diagnosed with breast cancer in Africa survive to five years.3 Through the launch of ABCA, we are actively collaborating with partners to ensure that by 2030 we have laid the systemic foundations to enable 80% of women in Africa to survive breast cancer at five years, a milestone designed to save lives, strengthen communities and stimulate local economic growth.

The deployment of the RedPath functions as a practical engine for this ambition, bringing immediate visibility to clinical workflows. Designed for resource-limited settings, the application operates fully offline and demands an average of just two hours per week from clinical staff, keeping frontline focus on direct patient care. Roche continues to partner across multiple countries and stakeholders to strengthen the entire health ecosystem, improve local and regional infrastructure and broaden access to standard of care treatment.

Digital care, real progress

According to internal programme tracking data evaluating the initial phase of the initiative (4 months), the platform has established key operational baselines:

  • Four tertiary hospitals mobilised: The digital healthcare infrastructure has successfully expanded its operational footprint across four out of five of Ghana's national tertiary hospitals.

  • Frontline nursing deployment: The programme relies on eight nurse patient navigators – strategically deployed with two specialist nurses per institution – who coordinate care pathways at the point of care using digital devices.

  • Rapid patient onboarding: During the initial four-month assessment window, frontline nursing staff registered 402 breast cancer patients and coordinated 1004 scheduled appointments.

  • Seamless digital referrals: The digital framework enabled the seamless tracking of 47 patients who were referred between facilities with a zero percent loss-to-follow-up rate.

  • First care-timeline baselines established: Data collection revealed that a patient currently experiences an average wait time of 82 days from initial screening entry to the formal commencement of treatment.

  • Encouraging early staging signal: Though sample sizes remain small (n=14), early data indicates that 65% of navigated patients achieved a breast cancer diagnosis at the localised stage I or stage II phase.

Digital impact

This Roche proprietary mobile application is making the breast cancer patient journey – and the barriers that stop people from seeking healthcare – visible across the health ecosystem in Ghana. The provisional findings are starting conversations on how care is delivered, and processes are changing to speed results for the benefit of patients. Through these ongoing insights, the initiative aims to support earlier diagnosis, improve access, and contribute to long-term health system capacity within the country.

1. Thomas AS, Kidwell KM, Oppong JK, Adjei EK, Osei-Bonsu E, Boahene A, Jiggae E, Gyan K and Merajver SD. Breast Cancer in Ghana: Demonstrating the Need for Population-Based Cancer Registries in Low- and Middle-Income Countries. J Glob Oncol. 2017 Dec;3(6):765–772. doi: 10.1200/JGO.2016.006098.

2. International Agency for Research on Cancer (2024). Cancer Tomorrow: Breast cancer prediction factsheet for Ghana (2022–2040), World Health Organization, Global Cancer Observatory. Available at: https://gco.iarc.who.int/tomorrow/ (Accessed: 23 June 2026). 

3. International Agency for Research on Cancer (2024). Sub-Saharan Africa IARC Evidence Summary Brief No. 1, World Health Organization. Available at: Breast Cancer Outcomes in Sub-Saharan Africa. IARC Evidence Summary Briefs No 1