Law to shield cancer patients from discrimination

Insurance and credit company directors who compel clients to declare their cancer status before accessing services could find themselves behind bars.

According to the proposed Cancer Prevention and Control Bill, anyone doing so would be breaking the law and could be jailed for up to two years or be fined Sh200,000. The Bill proposes the creation of a special agency to spearhead the fight against cancer.

The National Cancer Prevention and Control Institute, which will be mainly funded from government sources, will not only play an advisory role but also manage cancer research, collection of statistics and treatment in the country.

The board will also be responsible for dealing with the welfare of people with cancer and eradicating discrimination against them, besides instituting measures that eliminate conditions which cause the spread of the disease. Experts have in the past complained over lack of a special government arm to coordinate cancer activities in the country.

Currently, cancer is managed through the division of non-communicable diseases under the Ministry of Public Health. The division also manages heart ailments and bone diseases, among others. The new semi-autonomous institute – with power to set up directorates, departments and regional centres – will be headed by a board of trustees and run by a chief executive officer.

Its board will comprise representatives of health ministries, the attorney-general, universities, cancer associations, hospital associations and the Kenya Medical Association. The Cancer Prevention and Control Bill also stipulates the mechanism for the establishment of a cancer registry.

The registry would not only develop the number of people with cancer and the type but also their geographic locations and a database of institutions involved in the provision of cancer care and treatment services. These figures are expected to help the government in planning for programmes against cancer. Medical institutions will be required to notify the institute within 14 days whenever a new cancer case is diagnosed.

Currently, there is no proper mechanism for collecting data on cancer and hospitals are under no obligation to forward their statistics on the disease. Under the new law, names of persons with cancer will not be disclosed by the registry without written consent.

It outlaws discrimination of persons with cancer at the workplace, in academic institutions, by insurance firms or when seeking elective office. It would also become illegal for one to be compelled to declare their cancer status before accessing credit or insurance services.

According to the Bill, anyone contravening any of its provisions is liable to up to two years imprisonment or a Sh200,000 fine. The new law now requires institutions involved in human biomedical research to seek written consent from the persons from whom tissues are extracted before embarking on a study outlining its aims, methods, anticipated benefits and potential hazards.