For courage to stand up to cancer, MP and others deserve plaudits

The very touching story of Kenneth Okoth, the Kibra constituency Member of Parliament who says his Stage 4 cancer of the colon is untreatable highlights the suffering that all those unlucky to be afflicted by the killer disease go through across the country. Cancer terrifies in ways no other disease does. Worst of all, it puts the afflicted in an uncertain, precarious position.

That Mr Okoth - by all means a VIP -opted to open up about personal suffering is quite commendable. And as we marked the World Cancer Day yesterday, his experience has once again thrust a disease that is indiscriminately disrupting and decimating life to the fore.

There are at least 40,000 Kenyans diagnosed with cancer every year. To most of them, the despair is the lack of treatment and a social support system. So, cancer diagnosis becomes a death sentence. Cancer care is prohibitively expensive- it wipes out life’s investment in many households who sadly, also have to bear with the loss of a dear life eventually. By any measure, cancer care and treatment also consume a disproportionate amount of public resources.

Cancer is quickly rising to become the world’s number 1 killer disease. In 2018, it was estimated that there were nearly 20 million new cancer cases and nearly 10 million deaths. No other disease has caused so much agony and pain and killed many people before.

Sadly, advances in medical research have not yielded much in the way of treatment for cancer. It is our hope that Okoth's story will coax authorities to make cancer screening and care a national priority. Unlike many other deadly diseases, there is scientific proof that prevention is better than cure.Indeed, the sure way to fight cancer is to go for early screening. Early detection affords doctors the chance to fight the cancer cells through either or a combination of chemotherapy and radiotherapy. Unfortunately, far too many people wait until it is too late to go for screening.

We need not despair much. Cancer research is not dormant. Indeed, researchers are spending countless amount of resources and time in the race to get a cure. Just last week, an Israeli company came up with what it believes is a cure for the debilitating disease. Like many breakthroughs, MuTaTo offers real hope to the world. These and other efforts ought to be encouraged through adequate funding. There is no time to lose. Until a cure is found, the world can only hope for the best.

Locally, to insure families against the high costs, in 2018, cancer treatment was included in the National Health Insurance Scheme. But that is not enough.

The National Cancer Strategy should be operationalized, which offers a roadmap on how to tackle the cancer scourge. Besides rooting for early screening, the proposals contained in the strategy include zero-rating cancer drugs and waiving VAT on CT scans to ensure early detection and cure.

It also promotes healthy lifestyles like eating healthy food and avoiding smoking, excessive alcohol and engaging in physical exercise.