Standard journalist laid to rest amid calls to tame cancer

Journalists carry a casket bearing the remains of their colleague, John Karume's grave during his burial at his rural home in Kanyiriri village in Endarasha, Kieni Constituency in Nyeri County on April 8 2016.,Karume died after a brave battle with breast cancer, a rare disease among men. PHOTO: KIBATA KIHU/STANDARD.

A Standard Group journalist who died of breast cancer was on Friday laid to rest in Endarasha, Nyeri County, with calls to declare the disease a national disaster.

Journalists from his former Kiambu base as well as Nairobi, Nyeri, Meru, Laikipia, Nakuru, Murang'a and Tharaka Nithi counties trooped to Kanyiriri village in Endarasha to pay their last respects to John Karume.

Karume passed on last Saturday, a day after he was rushed to Thika Level 5 Hospital in Kiambu for an urgent blood transfusion.

He had been diagnosed with breast cancer, a rare disease among men, last year and was to undergo specialised treatment abroad.

During the burial, local leaders and friends eulogised Karume as a loving and dedicated father and husband.

Ms Grace Wanjiku of GWM Cancer Foundation said cancer should be declared a national disaster as Kenya was losing 80 people to the disease daily.

"We need to pressure leaders to address cancer and find a way to make treatment free. The high cost of treatment is the reason for the high mortality rates," Wanjiku said.

She asked Kenyans to undergo regular cancer checks and screenings to detect the disease early. "Men should not ignore their breasts. If you notice any pimple or swelling in your armpit please go to the nearest public referral hospital for a check up," Wanjiku said.

Karungo wa Thangwa, the MCA for Ngewa in Kiambu County, delivered condolences from Kiambu Governor William Kabogo and Senator Kimani Wamatangi.

"Kenya has lost a young and brilliant mind," Thangwa said.

Karume had been undergoing chemotherapy at the Agha Khan Hospital in Nairobi.