Lamu MPs and the County Council of Elders have urged the government to declare cancer a national disaster.
Their calls came in the wake of increased cancer deaths.
Bomet Governor Joyce Laboso died on Monday at Nairobi Hospital. This news hit home barely four days after Kibra MP Ken Okoth lost his battle with the scourge. Early in the month, Safaricom CEO Bob Collymore's demise added to the previous statistics of lives lost to cancer.
According to statistics, 33,000 Kenyans die from cancer every year. Health CS Sicily Kariuki says there are 48,000 new infections every year.
On Monday, Lamu West MP Stanley Muthama, his Lamu East counterpart Athman Shariff, Woman Representative Ruweida Obbo and council of elders chairperson Shariff Salim said the government must intensify the war on cancer to reduce prevalence and incidence.
They called for a reduction in the cost of treatment. Muthama said Lamu West has borne the brunt of cancer compared to other parts of the county. He said he has been attending many fundraisers every week to help cancer patients pay hospital bills.
"Cancer deaths and infections are now alarming. Apart from high-profile deaths, so many Kenyans die daily from the scourge... These thing needs to be declared a disaster so we can work on effectively addressing it and saving our people," Muthama said.
The Boni minority community is said to be the worst hit. Many members are reportedly infected. Their situation is made worse by lack of medical facilities in their areas — the few that existed were vandalised by suspected al Shabaab militants.
"Last week, a woman from the Boni community had her tongue cut out due to cancer," the lawmaker said.
MP Shariff appealed to the government to consider employing more cancer experts as part of solutions. He encouraged Kenyans to go for regular screening so they can be treated if found to have contracted the disease.
“The biggest thing Kenyans can do is to just pray to God that cancer stays away from us. As for the government, let them employ more experts to help curb the spread and deaths,” he said.
Obbo urged the government to establish cancer centres in all the 47 counties.
She said it was challenging for Kenyans in places like Lamu to travel all the way to Nairobi or outside the country in search of treatment.
“Let each region have at least one centre. We are talking of coast, Western, Eastern, Rift Valley and so on," she said.
Elder Sharif Salim urged the government to sponsor free cancer screening for Kenyans and provide free treatment. “Many cancer patients that I know here can barely afford transport to Nairobi, let alone treatment. Many just wait and die."
There have been numerous motions in Parliament over cancer but no major strides have been made as Kenyans continue to die in large numbers. Outside the country, especially in India, huge cash has been used in search of a cure but the initiatives have yet to bear fruit.
(Edited by F'Orieny)
