Kenyans in the remote Northern districts are dying from a purportedly mysterious cancer epidemic. The harsh nomadic lifestyles have not changed, nor has the persistent poverty that often symbolises the region. It is not the characteristic malnourished children or maternal deaths but the silent numerous deaths attributed to various forms of cancer and related complications.
Recent media reports revealed that over 500 persons have died as a result of a cancer epidemic in Marsabit County in recent years. The number could be in thousands if a wider, thorough investigation is done. In the past two decades, residents of North and Upper Eastern have experienced high numbers of mysterious deaths of people and larger numbers of livestock that they attribute to possible dumping of toxic waste in the area.