The Siaya county referral hospital will start offering free cervical cancer screening and treatment after the governor signed an agreement with Academic Model Providing Access to Health Care (Ampath).
Under the three-year MoU, specialist doctors will establish a cancer centre for screening and treatment of all kinds of cancer, according to governor Cornel Rasanga.
The Ampath team will also train the county hospitals' referral staff.
Rasanga thanked Ampath for collaborating with the Siaya health department, which receives the highest budgetary allocation.
A total of Sh2 billion out of Sh6 billion devolved to Siaya government goes to the health sector.
Ampath oncology and gynaecologist Chita Asiwa said they have already designed a programme to address cancer and other non-communicable diseases in the county.
“The signed MoU that was witnessed by Governor Cornel Rasanga seeks to improve diagnostic services, increase training and capacity building for cancer care in Siaya County. We will train 50 staffs or more,” said Prof Asiwa.
He said more nurses will be brought on board after training at an Eldoret hospital.
Asiwa said they intend to save more lives by involving the community where the patients come from.
“This time around we have decided to move to the grassroots to screen and treat those suffering from cancer,” he said.
Most of the cancers - breast, cervical, prostate, gastric, and pancreas - will be treated.
