A patient taking a test./HANDOUTAAR Hospital has made it more affordable to test for cancer by cutting screening costs in the whole month of October.
Patients screening for breast, cervical, and prostrate cancers will pay lower charges as the Kiambu Road-based hospital seeks to raise awareness on the benefits of early screening.
The cost of mammography has been slashed by 55.3 percent to Sh2,500, while breast ultrasound will cost Sh4,300, down from normal charges of Sh6,000.
Kenya records about 47,000 new cancer cases every year, according to the National Cancer Institute. Many patients face delayed diagnosis or abandon treatment due to high costs and limited access to care.
“We have recorded huge turnouts whenever we cut screening charges, indicating that testing cost is a barrier to early diagnosis, which has been proven to improve on treatment outcomes and survival rates,” said the AAR Hospital CEO, Dr Aysha Edwards.
Pap smear testing for cervical cancer will be cut to Sh1,500, while the cost of testing for prostate cancer, which involves checking the level of Prostate-Specific Antigen (PSA) in the blood, has been cut by more than half to Sh2,000.
Breast cancer is the leading cancer in Kenya, accounting for 16.1 percent of all cases, and the second cause of cancer deaths in the country.
Early detection of cancer has been proven to improve treatment outcomes and survival rates.
Women aged 40 to 55 years are advised to take a mammogram every year, and a test every two years for those above 55 years.
Any abnormality detected in the mammogram test is probed further through breast ultrasound on doctor’s advice.
According to the Ministry of Health, cancer is the third leading cause of death in the country after infectious and cardiovascular diseases, with approximately 42,116 new cases and 27,092 deaths annually.
The most common cancers are breast, cervical, prostate, esophageal, and colorectal cancers. By 2040, the number of new cancer cases in Kenya is expected to rise to 95,217 annually. Currently, approximately 82,000 people in the country are living with cancer.
Each year, more than 800,000 individuals face life-limiting illnesses, but only about 14,552 receive the necessary services—services that the majority struggle to afford.
AAR Hospital regularly conducts free or subsidized screening for other non-communicable diseases throughout the year, after which patients are given the option to register for treatment clinics at the hospital or any health center of their choice.
