Women MPs visit Mugo, to seek cancer funding

NEW YORK

Thirteen Kenyan women MPs have said they will seek funding to create a programme for early detection and treatment of cancer.

The MPs, who were in a group of 17 Kenyans, had visited Public Health minister Beth Mugo on Thursday at her hotel in Philadelphia, US where she is undergoing cancer treatment.

A Ministry of Health statement said the agreement followed talks with Mrs Mugo.

The minister noted, the Ministry said, that such a programme in Kenya would be consistent with global health officials' shift in emphasis from communicable to non-communicable diseases in developing countries.

Mrs Mugo assistant, Rosalind Murimi, said the minister was unavailable for an interview with the Nation Questions about her health and treatment should be directed to her physician in Nairobi, Ms Murimi said.

Hon Mugo was reported to be doing well, however, and planning to return to Kenya later this month.

“The ladies found Hon Mugo in good health and cheer and spent the better part of the afternoon visiting with the minister and her daughter,” the Ministry statement said, referring to the Kenyan women MPs.

The Dagoretti MP is undergoing treatment for breast cancer at the Perelman Centre for Advanced Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia.

The minister has had discussions with a senior vice president at the centre regarding Kenya's cancer programme, the Ministry indicated. It said Hon Mugo expects to hold further talks regarding technical support and provision of equipment for cancer-treatment initiatives in Kenya.

The MPs have travelled to the US as Kenya's delegation to an Inter-Parliamentary Union conference taking place on the sidelines of a review session of the UN Commission on the Status of Women.