Kenya, (SomalilandPress)-Statistics which was released on Thursday has said about 50 Kenyans die each day various forms of cancers. About 80,000 cases of cancer are diagnosed in Kenya each year, Kenyatta National Hospital (KNH) Chief Executive Officer Dr Jotham Micheni announced.
All the patients can only use the required treatment at KNH which is the largest referral hospital in East and Central Africa.
“We have very few specialists in oncology and therefore human resource for health in terms of cancer is definitely a major challenge,” Dr Micheni said. In Kenya only four specialized oncologists (cancer specialists) and another four Radio-Oncologists (doctors who prescribe radiotherapy) were available.
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Only one of these eight cancer specialists was specialised for children, as Dr Micheni told local media. Micheni said this is the result of the high cost of the training which esteemed between Sh7 million and Sh10 million) and South Africa is the only country in the continent which offering the course. “There are no cancer registries in the country and hence the actual burden of cancer is unclear. Very little research has been going on in the area of cancer,” he told. The doctor said the most common cancers in both men and women are those of the oesophagus, prostrate, breast and cervical cancer.
Public Health and Sanitation assistant minister James Gesami has said that the government has did little attention to the non-communicable disease. The World Health Organisation (WHO) said that each year cancer kills more people than HIV, Aids, tuberculosis and malaria combined. World Health Organisation Kenya representative Dr David Okello has said tobacco contributes to 30 percent of cancer deaths in the worldwide.
Muhyadin Ahmed Roble
SomalilandPress,
Nairobi, Kenya
