(NPR) – The cancer screening, education and treatment were led by a hospice — an institution traditionally limited to easing the pain of the dying.

The team at Rays of Hope Hospice Jinja in Uganda had long wanted to do more. Even with liquid morphine and other pain medications the hospice provided to ease symptoms, women with cervical cancer “didn’t just die a normal death. They died after suffering, suffering,” says Sylvia Nakami, executive director of the 20-year-old nonprofit.

So back in 2018, they expanded beyond such end-of-life care into prevention, offering cervical and breast cancer exams in the mostly rural Busoga region. Since then, the hospice has conducted nearly 29,000 screenings. (Read More)