The government has been asked to fast track implementation of free treatment for cancer patients to reduce deaths.
At the same time, Kenyans want the state to focus on campaigns to encourage people to embrace early cancer screening.
Many patients suffer in silence because they cannot afford medication in the few public hospitals that handle the disease.
The views were expressed at a multi-disciplinary cancer management meeting held in Awendo town, Migori county on Sunday.
Participants noted that majority of those seeking treatment die from failure to get drugs promptly and seeking treatment when the disease is at an advanced stage.
The remedy remains in pushing for more medical practitioners to deal with cancer and equip more hospitals to offer treatment.
Alga Ogalo, 65, who is battling cervical cancer, said she had resorted to herbal medicine because she could not afford the frequent trips to Moi Teaching and Referral Hospital in Eldoret town for medical check-up.
“The monthly check-ups are expensive and the vomiting that occurs after chemotherapy makes it difficult for me to travel by public vehicles,” Ogalo from Rongo said.
Participants also lamented the prohibitive cost of treating cancer in Kenya and other developing countries.
The head of the Non-Communicable Disease Division at the Ministry of Health in Western Kenya Maurice Mwangi said President Uhuru Kenyatta’s government was committed to addressing the rising cases of cancer.
Nairobi Cancer registry shows that the cases stand at over 30,000 per year.
“The state is working with global partners for relevant research and access to equipment to help in diagnosis and treatment,” Mwangi said.
He urged citizens not to shy away from seeking regular screening to detect the disease at an early stage.
Mwangi singled out the cancer screening centre recently commissioned at the Kenyatta University by President Kenyatta as one of the efforts being made to fight the disease.
(Edited by Bilha Makokha)
