Northwestern’s Health on the Roll Mobile Clinic Breaks Barriers to Cancer Prevention in West Africa

February 2026

In Nigeria and Mali, many women do not have access to medical care like cervical cancer screening and treatment. Human papillomavirus (HPV)-associated cancers like cervical cancer are largely preventable through HPV vaccination, testing, cancer screening and treatment. Low- and middle-income countries, however, often lack the resources to deploy these types of country-wide programs. As a result, HPV infections spread widely, and related cancers remain undiagnosed until later stages when effective treatment options are limited or unavailable.   

To address these issues, a team from the Center for Global Oncology at the Robert J. Havey, MD Institute for Global Health created the Health on the Roll mobile clinic. Launched in 2024, the mobile clinic provides HPV testing and treatment to women who do not have access to healthcare due to distance, and in many cases, cultural barriers, in addition to other basic health screenings and treatments.  

With the support of the John R. Flanagan Charitable Foundation, the West Africa HPV-Associated Cancers Prevention and Control Program mobile clinic is led by Lifang Hou, MD, PhD, director of the Center for Global Oncology and chief of Cancer Epidemiology and Prevention in the Department of Preventive Medicine at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine. Hou is joined by team members Robert Murphy, MD, the John Philip Phair Professor of Infectious Diseases and executive director of the Robert J. Havey, MD Institute for Global Health; Kate Klein, MS, MPH; and Imran Morhason-Bello, MD, PhD. 

The mobile clinics are fully operational and feature solar panels, iron bars, a portable ECG/defibrillator, medical supplies for visual inspection for cervical cancer screening, an ATILA ScreenFirerapid HPV testing machine, and kits and a loop electrode for Loop Electrosurgical Excision Procedure (LEEP) which areused in the treatment of precancerous cervical lesions. The team has also developed a secure Research Electronic Data Capture (REDCap) – a safeguarded, web-based application for building and managing online data capture for research studies – database to store and analyze outcomes. 

Leadership from the Havey Institute for Global Health and the Center for Global Oncology attended the July 2025 launch of the Health on the Roll mobile clinic at the College of Medicine of the University of Ibadan.  

Launch, screenings and results 

The bus was formally launched in Mali in June 2025 with a ceremony at the University of Sciences, Technologies and Techniques (USTTB). Northwestern leadership attended, along with senior public health dignitaries and Mali’s Minister of Health. In Nigeria, a formal launch was held in July 2025 with Northwestern leaders Hou, Murphy and Klein. Events included ceremonies, a reception and documentary filming, and drew more than 750 participants, dignitaries and media coverage. 

Since its launch, the mobile clinic has seen significant growth in Nigeria and Mali. When the clinic first opened in Oke-Aremo, Nigeria, 14 women were screened. Of those seen, six tested positive for high-risk HPV and were treated. A final pilot in Ajia, Nigeria screened 40 additional participants. In Nigeria, at least 600 people are expected to be screened for cervical and oral HPV, as well as hypertension. In Mali, the mobile clinic has screened a total of 700 women in four hard-to-reach communities for high-risk HPV and sexually transmitted infections. Implementation in Koulikoro, Mali screened 543 women. Results showed a high-risk HPV prevalence of 17 percent and STI prevalence of 10 percent. Of the 94 HPV-positive women, 13 (13.8 percent) had precancerous lesions, and all 13 received treatment. This past October, the team also participated in “Pink October” events, recognizing the national month in Mali to acknowledge and draw attention to cancer awareness.    

Future aspirations  

The first two years of the mobile clinic in Mali and Nigeria have demonstrated the success of this solution to increase access and remove barriers to screening for individuals in hard-to-reach areas. Longterm, the team’s goal is to expand this project to neighboring countries where the Center for Global Oncology has standing partnerships, including Ghana and Uganda. At the existing sites, communities identified a need to expand screening to include breast, oral, anal and penile cancer, along with Hepatitis B and C, as well as extend operation in Mali and Nigeria to meet these new screening needs. Hou hopes to launch additional mobile clinics for each country. 

The Center for Global Oncology is a shared center with the Robert H. Lurie Comprehensive Cancer Center of Northwestern University and Havey Institute for Global Health.   

Lifang Hou, MD, PhD, and Robert Murphy, MD, are members of the Institute for Public Health and Medicine (IPHAM), Robert H. Lurie Comprehensive Cancer Center and Havey Institute for Global Health. Hou is also a member of Northwestern University Clinical and Translational Sciences Institute (NUCATS). 

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