The deaths of three prominent personalities of cancer within a month have brought the debate on the killer disease to prominence in a way it has never been done before.
The top political leadership has been awakened to say all the good things on plans to combat one of the most deadly diseases of our times.
The number of cancer cases reported in Kenya annually is in excess of 40,000. Only 10,000 of this number survive.
Perhaps out of panic – and understandably so – some people want cancer declared a national disaster like Aids several years ago. Those doing so are well-meaning.
Medical experts emphasise like they have done for years, that prevention is the most cost-effective long-term strategy for the control of cancer.
They have evidence that between 30 and 50 per cent of cancer deaths can be prevented by avoiding key risk factors such as avoiding tobacco products, reducing alcohol consumption, maintaining healthy body weights, exercising regularly and addressing infection-related risk factors.
Of course, the construction and equipping of cancer hospitals is a good thing. But it is the informed individual who is key in the prevention and spread of lifestyle diseases.
