Thousands of Kenyan families struggle to raise money for medical care for their loved ones locally and overseas.
One of them is that of Kennedy Ouma, 36, who was diagnosed with acute myeloid leukemia in October last year at the Nairobi West Hospital.
AML is a rare type of blood cancer that makes the body cells unable to generate adequate blood.
Ouma, a father of two and a pastor with the AIC church in Kibera slum, now urgently needs Sh5 million for bone marrow transplant in India or South Africa, which is beyond his family's reach.
MEDICAL HISTORY
He has been ailing since May and sought treatment at various clinics but medics did not diagnose his illness until he was taken to Nairobi West Hospital after his health deteriorated.
Ouma was admitted at the hospital for two months for medical stabilisation and supportive treatment. The cost of medication rose to Sh1.1 million after he was diagnosed with AML.
“He started complaining of dizziness, failing eyesight and internal body pains. At a clinic [in Kibera], he was told he has arthritis. At another clinic, he was told he has a shortage of blood,” his wife Celestine Atieno said.
His consulting doctor, Walter Mwanda, said the solution to Ouma’s ailment is bone marrow transplant and subsequently six sessions of chemotherapy.
Mwanda also prescribed regular blood transfusion and had received 22 pints of blood before he was discharged.
He is now depending on blood transfusions and has undergone more than 30 of them, while waiting for the family to raise Sh5 million for treatment in India or South Africa.
“It is difficult. The NHIF [National Hospital Insurance Fund] said it can’t pay the more than Sh500,000 I owe the hospital,” Ouma said in resignation at his hospital bed.
SEARCH FOR FUNDS
Ouma had worked has worked for the AIC church for four years in Kapsabet and Nairobi before he was diagnosed with AML cancer.
The family organised a fundraiser and raised Sh600,000, which was used to pay for the treatment he underwent at the hospital: three chemotherapy sessions and the 22 blood transfusions and accompanying treatment before he left the hospital.
“It is a very devastating situation for us as family. We are taking him home knowing he is not recovering and his condition is getting worse and what lies next for him is death because we don’t have the money to take him to for the treatment immediately,” his younger brother Joshua Ngala said.
Atieno said the AIC church, Ouma’s employer, paid him Sh14,000 as October salary, although he was admitted at hospital for the better part of it and is still paying his rent.
“We can’t raise Sh5 million. We are taking him home as we plead with well-wishers to help us,” Atieno told the Star at the hospital as she waited for clearance and discharge of her husband.
Atieno, a primary school teacher, said she left their two sons with their grandmother back in Siaya county to take care of her husband.
Ouma had successfully completed two chemotherapy sessions with blood transfusion but is still on supportive medication. He hopes well-wishers will come to his aid, to save his life.
LEUKEMIA EFFECTS
AML is a type of cancer that starts from cells in the bone marrow that are supposed to grow into different types of blood cells.
Most often, AML starts in early forms of white blood cells.
The leukemia cells enter the blood quickly and sometimes can spread to the liver, spleen, central nervous system (brain and spinal cord) and testicles in men.
Leukemia symptoms vary, depending on the type of the leukemia. Common signs and symptoms include fever or chills, persistent fatigue and weakness. However, such symptoms are not automatic signs of leukemia.
Cancer is one of the major non-communicable diseases and, together with the cardiovascular diseases, diabetes and chronic respiratory diseases, they cause over 60 per cent of the total global mortality every year.
In Kenya, cancer ranks third in cause of deaths after infections and cardiovascular diseases of total mortality every year.
Although Kenya does not have population-based data, it is estimated that there are about 28,000 reported incidents of cancer annually, and mortality is estimated at 22,000 annually.
More than 60 per cent of those affected are below the age of 70 years, according to the Health ministry.
The prevalence of the disease has prompted the government to initiate remedial measures in response.
The Health ministry initiated the National Cancer Control Strategy in partnership with stakeholders.
The NCCS has seen the obvious need to prioritise cancer prevention and control in Kenya. Most Kenyans are
unable to afford cancer treatment.
The strategy recognises that the disease cannot be fully eradicated, but its effects can be significantly reduced by implementing effective measures to control risk factors, detect cases early and offer good care to patients.