Tessie Musalia, wife of ANC party leader Musalia Mudavadi, on Saturday led Kenyans in raising funds to cater for patients under the care of Nairobi Hospice.
The Amani party leader's spouse organised a walk for the cause at the Hillcrest International School in Karen.
The fundraising awareness campaign was conducted in collaboration with the Nairobi Hospice which holds an annual charity walk on September 22.
"We meet here today to express our solidarity in raising resources through this walk.
We believe that the resources raised will help give hope to the so many patients that Nairobi Hospice handles," Tessie said.
Speaking during the ceremony, Musalia's wife called
on the government
to invest significantly in helping to build infrastructure for treatment and palliative care for cancer patients.
This, she said, should especially be facilities for children and mothers in rural areas.
"In order to adequately deal with the challenge posed by cancer, strong multi-sectoral partnerships and collaborations between state and non state actors are needed," she said.
"This is a sure way of ensuring that sufficient treatment facilities
are built, diagnostic
and treatment."
Tessie
said as part of Mudavadi Memorial Foundation Trust Fund, they shall continue to walk with Nairobi Hospice to ensure that it fulfils its mission.
Tessie Musalia (2L) hands over a cheque to the Nairobi Hospice CEO Ruth Were (2R) as director Bill Rahedi and programs manager Daniella Jhuthi looks on, September 22, 2018. /MOSES MWANGI
Nairobi Hospice's mission is to promote and support acceptable, accessible and affordable quality palliative care for individuals and families by creating networks.
Kenya loses 90 people to cancer daily, data from the Health ministry shows.
The figures were released last week by the World Health Organisation.
The disease now claims 69 per cent of its victims — 32,900 deaths every year.
This was found to be 10 times more than the total deaths caused by road accidents. Some 3,000 Kenyans die in road carnage yearly.
The numbers paint a grim picture in the war on cancer. The disease ranks third on the list of top killers after pneumonia and malaria.
Kenya records 47,887 new cancer cases annually — about 130 daily. In 2012 when the last survey was published, it recorded 40,000 new cases and 27,000 deaths annually.
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