First Lady praised for promoting health care

First Lady Margaret Kenyatta was on Wednesday described as a committed role model on health matters, not only in Kenya but also across Africa.

Delegates at the 10th Stop Cervical, Breast and Prostrate Cancer in Africa conference in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, singled her out for her commitment to the Beyond Zero project.

“We made great strides during your tenure”, said Burkina Faso First Lady Adjoavi Sika Kabore in reference to Mrs Kenyatta.

Ms Kabore made the remarks during an acceptance speech to host the 12th edition of the conference in her country in 2018. Next year’s conference will be in Swaziland.

Nairobi woman representative Rachel Shebesh, who represented the National Assembly Speaker Justin Muturi at the conference, said the First Lady was a great role model in Kenya for her Beyond Zero drive that has so far distributed 43 fully equipped mobile clinics across the country.

 Although only five First Ladies from Kenya, Burkina Faso, Swaziland, Mozambique and host Ethiopia attended the closing ceremony of the four-day conference, the final communique’ was signed by 18 members, all First Ladies.

In their final statement the First Ladies and delegates agreed to push for price reduction of medicines, vaccines and technologies while maintaining high quality standards.

The delegate committed themselves to advocate the use of innovative technologies to advance cancer screening, diagnosis, treatment and palliative care with particular focus on highly preventable cancers like cervical, breast and prostrate cancer.

REDUCE BURDEN OF CANCER

They also committed themselves to intensify awareness and efforts to halt and reduce the burden of cancer in Africa by 2030.

It is feared that unless deliberate interventions are made, cancer related deaths in the continent could shoot by 70 per cent by 2030.

The delegates also agreed to support Government efforts in African countries to enhance the participation of civil society, academia, development partners, media and the public in the fight against the disease.

 They further committed themselves to mobilize political and community support on prevention and control of cancer.

The delegates committed themselves to promote the development, strengthening and implementation of evidence based health policies and programs through an integrated health system approach.

That approach, they said, should focus on assuring adequate human, technical and financial resources to achieve universal health coverage to prevent   cervical, breast and prostrate cancer, reduce suffering and premature death.

 Besides the First Ladies, the conference drew participants from across the world include diplomats, Health Ministers,  policy makers, researchers and foremost oncologists.

There were personal testimonies from cancer survivors who gave moving accounts of how they had bravely  defeated cancer.

These testimonies came from as far as America where Dr. Oliver Bogler testified how he and his wife had both suffered but bravely fought breast cancer including undergoing mastectomy.