Ocean Road Cancer Institute Dar es Salaam

ORCI is a cancer treatment, research, and teaching center, affiliated with the Muhimbili University of Health and Allied Sciences and with Muhimbili National Hospital, the teaching hospital of the university. ORCI maintains an inpatient facility with capacity of 256 beds.

In Tanzania, an estimated 35,000 new cases of cancer were diagnosed in 2014, of whom about 21,000 (60 percent) died, the same year. The country has only two cancer hospitals, with the main one, ORCI, located in the capital, Dar es Salaam. Approximately 150 outpatients are attended to at ORCI, on a daily basis. At the institute, it is estimated that about 90 percent of the patients arrive when it’s too late for cure.

Located along the Indian Ocean, Ocean Road Cancer Institute (ORCI) is the only specialized facility for cancer treatment in Tanzania. The facility is one of the oldest health institutions in Tanzania having been founded in 1895 by the German colonial government. In June 1996, by an act of parliament, ocean road hospital was made an independent autonomous institute directly under the ministry of health and its name changed to Ocean Road Cancer Institute. The institute works in partnership with the Tanzania community so as to create and maintain an integrated, accessible, and affordable cancer health care system with quality service to improve health and well-being. ORCI offers numerous patient services including laboratory services, diagnostic imaging, chemotherapy, radiotherapy, palliative care services, cervical cancer screening, and an HIV/AIDS care and treatment clinic. In addition, ORCI has established teaching programs for undergraduate and postgraduate medical students as well as other health care workers, and ORCI runs research projects in various aspects of cancer. ORCI became a full member of UICC in 2008.