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By LONAH KIBET
Cancer is killing at least two people every hour as the number of Kenyans the disease is attacking rises, according to the Ministry of Health.
The high rate of deaths makes cancer the third major killer after infectious and cardiovascular diseases.
Health Cabinet Secretary James Macharia blamed the crisis on low levels of awareness, inadequate screening services and ill-equipped referral facilities. Macharia added that the country has limited specialists, who are concentrated in Nairobi, to handle the high number of cancer cases at public hospitals.
“We are challenged. We only have 12 trained oncologists in public hospitals to handle the patients throughout the country,” said Macharia.
He said the State will be working with global players to train more specialists and ensure that they are not forced to move to other countries as has been happening.
The CS was speaking yesterday during a meeting in Nairobi organised by Kenya Medical Association (KMA), Kenya Commercial Bank and other stakeholders.
KMA announced a Sh50 million Public-Private Partnership kitty to be used to raise awareness on early detection and management of the disease. The kitty will run a campaign dubbed “Bila Cancer Society” to last one month. It will be officially launched on February 4 in Eldoret.
“We have noted that critical gaps exist in as far as public knowledge on the disease and early detection are concerned,” said KMA chairman Elly Nyaim. He added that the alarming trends on cancer prevalence call for concerted efforts between the Government and private stakeholders.
control strategy
Macharia also assured that the Government was committed to addressing the cancer situation through the National Cancer Control strategy already in place. The ministry plans to incorporate palliative care as part of the 2014-2015 budgetary process.
Ministry of Health statistics show that 22,000 people die annually from cancer-related complications while 28,000 new cases are reported every year.
“The risk of getting cancer before the age of 75 is 14 per cent while the risk of dying is 12 per cent. It causes 7 per cent of the total national mortality rate,” said a document from the ministry.
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