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'Govt won't declare cancer a national disaster'

Health & Science
 Health Cabinet Secretary James Macharia said that even though cancer has not been declared as a national disaster, the government is already treating it as so. (Photo: File/Standard)

Nairobi, Kenya: Increasing calls to declare cancer, one of the top killers in the country, as a national disaster have been brushed aside by the government as unnecessary.

Health Cabinet Secretary James Macharia said Sunday that even though the killer disease has not been declared as a national disaster, the government has been putting massive effort to fight it.  

He cited the recent Sh38 billion initiative to equip at least two county hospitals with advanced equipment, saying at least half of that amount will go into equipment for screening and treatment of cancer.

Macharia also cited the government’s plan to construct four specialised cancer centers in various parts of the country to address the killer disease. He said the centers will be built in Nairobi, Mombasa, Nyeri and Kisumu.

“Cancer in Kenya is already a disaster. We don’t have to declare it as one because we are already treating it as a disaster,” he said Sunday amid increasing calls from some cancer activists to declare it so.

Cancer treatment unaffordable

On its part, the Kenya Medical Association said declaring the killer disease as a national disaster may not be necessary, but criticised the government for not being serious in combating cancer in the country thus leaving many Kenyans to suffer.

KMA national Chairperson Dr Elly Nyaim insisted that screening and treatment of cancer remains unaffordable to the vast majority of Kenyans who have the disease, leaving many of them to die prematurely.

He cited the case of Kenyatta National Hospital where patients have to wait for at least 2 years to receive cancer treatment due to aging and obsolete equipment.

“Let us not rely on donors to combat cancer in the country. Let us commit more resources even as we partner with external financiers. Currently, the government does not appear committed to combating cancer. This is much talk but real action is lacking” he said.

He also called for more investment in raising awareness about the killer disease among Kenyans in order to enhance prevention against the disease.

Dr Nyaim said that instead of declaring cancer a national disaster, the country should start dealing with first primary healthcare issues which are affecting the highest numbers of Kenyans and may be contributing to the burden of cancer as well.

The Kenya Cancer Association disputed government’s claim that it is treating cancer as a national disaster, saying its efforts to combat the disease are still below par.

“We are not seeing a systematic effort to make the fight against cancer a priority. Most Kenyans who have the disease cannot access the expensive screening and treatment. The government is still making promises but not doing much,” he said said KCA Programs Coordinator Jarim Omogi

He added: “The cancer issue is so serious that we are losing at least 80 Kenyans daily while one out of every two women in Kenya either has breast or cervical cancer. Why is the government not taking this issue seriously?” he said.

Mr Omogi said that cancer cases may rise in the near future since risk factors are not addressed such as obesity, tobacco, air pollution and alcohol among others.

The three most common cancers in men are those of the oesophagus, prostate and Kaposi’s sarcoma while in women, breast cancer is the most common, followed by cervical and oesophageal cancers.

It is estimated that at least 82,000 Kenyans are diagnosed with some form of cancer annually but the number could be far higher since some cases go unreported.

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