30 African First Ladies to attend conference against cancer hosted by Margaret Kenyatta

First Lady Margaret Kenyatta Signs Joint Communiqué of the 14th OAFLA Ordinary General Assembly

NAIROBI: President Kenyatta will Monday morning officially open the Ninth Stop Breast, Cervical and Prostrate Cancer in Africa Conference at the Kenyatta International Convention Centre (KICC).

The three day event spearheaded by first lady Margaret Kenyatta will bring together some 30 First Ladies from Africa under the umbrella of First Ladies against Breast and Cervical Cancer.

The conference will raise awareness and provide opportunities for advocacy and will enable participants to share lessons learned to get governments and the private sector to partner in ensuring early detection and treatment of the cancer.

According to States House Spokesperson Manoah Esipisu, confirmed that Mrs Kenyatta will host the three day event.

"The Conference is well aligned to the First Lady's endeavor to promote the wellbeing of Kenyans and the world in general through enhancing affordable health services to all Kenyans," said Esipisu.

The conference is an annual event hosted by the African Countries on rotational basis and under the patronage of the respective First Ladies of the hosting country.

Kenya in conjunction with Princess Nikky Breast Cancer Foundation will host this Conference whose theme will be "Investing to save lives: The Role of Public-Private Sector Partnerships".

Apart from the First Ladies, the Conference will bring together Parliamentarians, Ministers of Health, Health Professionals, Scientists, Advocates against cancer, Corporate entities and other relevant stakeholders.

It is estimated that cancer kills over 8 million people globally every year, constituting close to 13 per cent of the total deaths worldwide.

At least 70 per cent of cancer deaths occur in low and middle income countries, majority of which are in Africa.

In Kenya, cancer ranks third as a cause of death after infectious and cardiovascular diseases; accounting for 7 per cent of total national deaths every year.

According to Mrs Kenyatta, the harsh reality calls for concerted efforts aimed at promoting cancer prevention, early detection, improved diagnosis and treatment including palliative care.

And to achieve it, there's need to integrate cancer prevention and control activities with national and community health programmes. It is important to build and promote partnerships and collaborations in cancer control for better health outcomes.

The Forum of African First Ladies against Breast, Cervical and Prostate Cancer initiated by Princess Nikky Onyeri was established in 2007 with 15 African First Ladies and has continued to create awareness about cancer in the continent.

Seven more conferences from 2008 up to 2014 were hosted by Uganda, South Africa, Ghana, Ethiopia, Nigeria, Zambia, Mozambique and currently Namibia respectively.