so what does that mean alejandro nava visits with a patient at senkatana oncology clinic in lesotha south africa the foundation awarded the clinic a grant in may 2020 to help with infrastructure equipment medicine and training a little over 1m distributed over three years the youngest of five in a firstgeneration mexican american family nava said the responsibility of translating for his spanishspeaking mother at medical appointments and stories told to him by his father a former physician in mexico exposed him to inequities that put him on the path to his career as a pharmacist american medical resident alejandro nava works as a postdoctoral associate and pharmacist at senkatana training local professionals how to prepare chemotherapy performing patient advocacy and collaborating with dr kabelo mputsoe an oncologist she is the daughter of a primary schoolteacher and farmer and hails from a rural village in lesotho called mohlanapeng thabatseka ive seen language barriers economic barriers transportation barriers affect so many minority communities and for me to finally be in a position where i can give back and you know walk the walk and talk and talk has been something ive strived for forever he said i know we can do it mputsoe said stressing the importance of screening early detection and treatment it is the most common kind of cancer in the country with one of the highest incidence rates in the world the odds of developing it are six times more likely for women who are hiv positive the clinic has since treated over 20 patients including many who have cervical cancer according to clinic staff who spoke with abc news lesotho had an approximate 21 hiv prevalence rate in 2021 directly affecting one in five people according to the centers for disease control and prevention more anyone from any family background of any economic status or geographical location can be an instrument of service for other people mputsoe said her expertise is in noncommunicable diseases prevention and control and cancer prevention that means that people who are hiv positive arent dying from the virus damonti said roshni lodhia for bristol myers squibb witnessing firsthand the barriers in access to health care that his own family who immigrated from mexico to the united states when he was a child had to overcome inspired him to pursue a career in the heath care industry nava said the foundations president john damonti said the companys outreach and its nonprofit sector have evolved to include cancer treatment in response to the needs of their partners and partner countries sinceits efforts to address hivaids in some of subsaharan africas hardesthit countries in the 90s now in 2022 with the support of the bristol myers squibb foundation and the government of lesotho senkatana oncology clinic is the first cancer clinic to open in the landlocked country it is declared as a disease that can be eliminated after months of building renovations it opened its doors to patients