Uganda monitors cancer patients with automated calls

What the report says

Uganda’s cancer care system is using an automated voice-calling service to check on patients between hospital visits, according to a report published by The Independent Uganda on October 4, 2026, based on a SciDev.Net special report by John Musenze. The system was developed by the Uganda Cancer Institute (UCI) to follow up with patients after treatment, asking about side effects and alerting clinicians when a person may need to return earlier than planned.

The report says the project was presented at the World Cancer Congress in Hong Kong by Johnblack Kabukye, a medical doctor and informatician at UCI. It builds on an earlier call-centre model supported by the Uganda Communications Commission, which offered cancer information in several languages. Under the newer version, nurses collect a patient’s phone number, preferred language and call time, and a computer automatically places calls every few days using interactive voice response. Patients respond to recorded questions by selecting from preset options, and the information is then reviewed by a doctor.

The system was first tested as a research pilot with about 100 patients with blood cancers. The report says it handled roughly 700 calls a week and prompted early return visits in about 18 cases because of serious side effects. The service is free to patients and does not require a smartphone or internet access, which the report frames as important in a setting where many people pay for care out of pocket and may live far from treatment centres.

UCI officials and Uganda’s health ministry have indicated interest in broader adoption, while the team is also looking at adding more languages, more capacity and possible expansion to other cancers and other African countries.