Rally fight against cancer

The national focus and attention may now be on the Covid-19 pandemic, which has ravaged the country for a year, but there are also other major killers. One is malaria, which claims 10,000 lives annually. 

Cancer is another.  The burden to families from the treatment of cancer patients is huge. However, the efforts to fight the diseases have been hampered by the lack of facilities at health centres and hospitals.

It has taken the death of Juja MP Francis Waititu, who fought a long battle with the disease, for the leaders in both the Senate and the National Assembly to bring the debate on cancer to the centre stage.

The leaders are concerned about the high cost of cancer treatment, which places a heavy burden on the economy but remains largely forgotten.

Special cancer funds

Raising awareness on cancer and encouraging people to go for check-ups early are essential because, if diagnosed in the early stages, the disease — whose most common types are cervical, breast, throat, stomach, leukaemia and prostate cancer — is treatable.

The lawmakers have rightly challenged the government to equip the healthcare facilities to fight the disease. However, a lot more need be done. Many families have been bankrupted as they take their patients overseas, especially to India, for specialised treatment.

The leaders can do more. How about coming up with initiatives through Parliament to establish special cancer funds to complement the government’s efforts? It is the tendency to over-rely on the government for solutions that hampers innovation and drive.

Through his costly battle with cancer and his experience at home and overseas, the late MP had hoped to establish a cancer centre. This is an idea that should now be implemented to enable better use of the billions of shillings spent every year on the disease. 

The country needs modern facilities to treat cancer patients and train top-notch specialists. Only then shall we tame it.