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By Michael Wesonga
Minister says 80 per cent of cases are diagnosed late when little can be done to save the situation
About 50 Kenyans die daily from cancer, Public Health Minister Beth Mugo told an international cancer management conference in Eldoret.
The minister revealed that about 80,000 cases of cancer are diagnosed each year.
Ms Mugo said the International Atomic Energy Agency 2010 also found the situation in Kenya dire with severe lack of medical practitioners and a large number of new cancers being diagnosed annually.
“Cancer is a major and rising public health concern as evidenced in a policy brief on the situational analysis of cancer in Kenya. The reports are not encouraging,” she noted.
Mugo said the statistics were a major blow to Kenya, which is a developing country and whose citizens still live below the poverty line.
“The impact of cancer on the economy of a low-income country such as Kenya is difficult to estimate due to lack of country specific data,” the minister reported.
The Head of Division of Non-Communicable Diseases in the Ministry of Public Health Waihenya Mwangi read the minister’s speech on her behalf during the second Multi-Disciplinary Cancer Management Conference yesterday.
Cancer is the leading killer in the developing world, more than HIV and Aids, tuberculosis and malaria combined.
The minister said in 2008, 56 per cent of new cases and 64 per cent of deaths due to cancer occurred in developing countries.
“Not to mention that as many as 80 per cent of those diagnosed with cancer in low income countries will die of cancer compared to 30 per cent in High Income Countries,” she said.
Palliative care
While commending the increase on knowledge on cancer, Dr Mwangi stressed the need for a multi-disciplinary approach to treatment and management of cancer.
“It is quite saddening that 80 per cent of the cases are diagnosed at advanced stages when little can be done even with the best facilities in the world save for palliative care,” he said.
The Moi Teaching and Referral Hospital Managing Director John Kibosia said they offer chemotherapy to 400 patients a month in their five clinics.
He added that 150-200 patients are on monthly inpatient services.
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