VIJI operates under the charity name, The Sierra Leone Cancer Charity. We are registered charity in both the UK and Sierra Leone with the goal to increase cancer awareness, especially amongst disadvantaged communities in Sierra Leone.

In 2010, we signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the Ministry of Health and Sanitation in Sierra Leone in to raise awareness in all urban and rural districts in Sierra Leone, in addition to managing the first national Cancer Registry.

• The Sierra Leone Cancer Charity

Prior to 2010, Sierra Leone did not have a national cancer Registry, which made tackling the disease challenging as there is no comprehensive data on the numbers and the types of cancer prevalent in Sierra Leone.  The development of a national cancer register supports the planning of health service resources and service provision.

In partnership with the Ministry of Health and Sanitation (Sierra Leone) and the South Wales Sierra Leone Cancer Care Link, VIJI working as the Sierra Leone Cancer Charity, established the Sierra Leone Cancer Registry.

VIJI is responsible for the ongoing management of the Registry and works with key partners to strengthen its capacity. Its activities were put on hold in 2015 due to the Ebola crisis and reinstated in 2016 with support from VIJI and the South Wales Sierra Leone Cancer Care Link.

In early 2018, with funding from the International Network for Cancer Treatment and Research (INCTR), the African Cancer Registry Network (AFCRN) provided training to Registry staff, in order to strengthen the Registry’s data collection capacity. As part of this support, data was collected on cancer cases in Freetown between 2015 and 2017.

Currently, the Registry collects data from 15 hospitals and clinics in Freetown, across 120 departments.

VIJI works to raise funds to support projects in Sierra Leone focused on raising awareness of cancer diagnosis, treatment and palliative care of cancer sufferers.