The Ministry of Health has been urged to ensure that data on Kenyans with cancer is accurate.
The call came on Monday from the wives of three governors - Maria Mbeneka (Laikipia), Nazi Kivutha (Makueni) and Dorothy Nyong’o (Kisumu).
They said that if the data on all people suffering from cancer was captured correctly, the country would be able to control cases of the killer disease.
They spoke during a tour of the Nanyuki Teaching and Referral Hospital.
The first ladies, under the auspices of the African Cancer Foundation, said information on cancer was unavailable in key government strategic papers like Statistical Abstract and Economic Survey.
“Without accurate data on cancer, the government will not be in a position to effectively manage cancer as it ought to but will be applying knee-jerk reaction when things get out of hand,” Mbeneka said.
Early this month, Health Cabinet Secretary Sicily Kariuki said the government could not declare cancer as a national disaster since there was insufficient data on the extent of its effects.
Kivutha, who is also the chair of the Counties First Ladies Association, said they were carrying out a needs assessment on all referral hospitals to establish how they cope with cancer with a view to lobbying for more resources towards its management.
They are also emphasising on the health facilities to offer nutritional advice not just to cancer patients but the general public since unhealthy diets are a big contributor to cancer cases, she said.
Nyong’o said increased awareness and early screening would go a long way in reducing the number of Kenyans dying of cancer.
“We believe early detection saves lives and also it’s more cost-effective. Cancer is not a death sentence if detected early,” she said.
Laikipia acting Health chief officer Donald Mogoi said the county had scaled up cancer screening and awareness as it was entrenched in the Universal Health Care.
“We believe we can manage cancer better if we start from the community level and scale it up through to the health facilities,” Mogoi said.
Edited by R.Wamochie
