Olympus Supports Kenyan EndoscopistsLatest “True to Life Story” Highlights Vital Training Initiative

July 28, 2025

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TOKYO, July 28, 2025 - In recent years, Kenya has seen a rise in the prevalence of noncommunicable diseases (NCDs), now accounting for up to 40.8% of total mortalities, with cancer being the third leading cause of death in the country, accounting for 7% of annual fatalities¹. In the gastrointestinal area, esophageal cancer, colorectal cancer, and gastric cancer are primary contributors to morbidity and mortality. However, endoscopy remains uncommon in the country due to a lack of trained physicians and equipment.

Olympus Corporation (Olympus) announced the latest installment of its “True to Life Stories” series, featuring the company’s efforts towards making people's lives healthier, safer, and more fulfilling through advanced medical technologies and solutions. This edition spotlights an international medical cooperation project that aims to promote endoscopic care in Kenya. The featured project, part of a 2024 initiative commissioned by Japan’s Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare and implemented by the Japan Institute for Health Security (JIHS) demonstrates Olympus’ role in bridging medical expertise between Japan and Kenya. By facilitating knowledge transfer and hands-on training, the program aims to promote early detection and treatment of cancer in Kenya.

Comment from Koichiro Watanabe, Senior Director, Government Affairs International Cooperation Division at Olympus:
“Seeing Japanese doctors identify cancer at such early stages gave [the participants] hope—they started to believe that they could do this in Kenya too. They were impressed by the wonderful collaboration between doctors across specialties and the cooperation between doctors and medical staff, and it helped them realize the importance of this approach.”

Comment from Dr. Brandon Oduor, a participant of the training program:
“What endoscopy is, how important it is in terms of diagnosis and therapeutics. This would be a great opportunity to transfer the skills and knowledge that I learned here to our colleagues back at home."

For more information about the international medical cooperation project, visit the Japan Institute for Health Security (JIHS) website:
https://kyokuhp.jihs.go.jp/eng/what-we-do/strategy_5/2024/29_Olympus_EN.pdf

Olympus remains committed to improving the standard of medical care and promoting endoscopic technology in Kenya and other emerging countries. This initiative aligns with the company’s global brand message, "True to Life," launched in December 2021. As part of its ongoing efforts to showcase its contributions as a global MedTech company, Olympus regularly publishes "True to Life Stories" in video and article formats.

To explore previous True to Life Stories, please visit:
https://www.olympus-global.com/company/truetolife/stories/?page=company

1 Japan Institute for Health Security https://kyokuhp.jihs.go.jp/eng/what-we-do/strategy_5/2024/29_Olympus_EN.pdf

About Olympus

At Olympus, we are committed to Our Purpose of making people’s lives healthier, safer, and more fulfilling. As a global medical technology company, we partner with healthcare professionals to provide innovative solutions and services for early detection, diagnosis and minimally invasive treatment, aiming to improve patient outcomes by elevating the standard of care in targeted disease states. For more than 100 years, Olympus has pursued a goal of contributing to society by producing products designed with the purpose of delivering optimal outcomes for its customers around the world. For more information, visit https://www.olympus-global.com/ and follow our global LinkedIn and X accounts.