Official wants president to label cancer a mass killer
PHOTO | ANTHONY OMUYA Kenya Cancer Association vice-chairman Mr David Makumi.
What you need to know:
- According to 2004-2009 data from the Kenya Medical Research Institute, the most common type of cancer in men is prostate
- Experts identify smoking and tobacco use, unhealthy diet, lack of physical exercise, alcohol abuse, toxic chemicals and environmental pollution as some of the factors fuelling the increase in cancers
Cancer should be declared a national disaster since it kills an estimated 18,000 people annually. It should also be placed at the heart of Vision 2030 development framework, a special programmes official has said.
Speaking on Wednesday in Nairobi during a cancer awareness session, Kenya Cancer Association special programmes adviser Kipkoech Siele said cancer and other non-communicable diseases — cardiovascular and chronic respiratory infections and diabetes — should be declared a national disaster since they were killing more people than all the infectious diseases combined.
He said: “A total of 82,000 people are diagnosed with cancer each year.”
According to 2004-2009 data from the Kenya Medical Research Institute, the most common type of cancer in men is prostate (15.7 per cent) followed by oesophagus (throat) (8.8 per cent); stomach (6.5 per cent) and eye (5.8 per cent). For women, the top cancers are breast (22.7 per cent) followed by cervix uteri (21.5 per cent); eye (5.2 per cent) and oesophagus.
Experts identify smoking and tobacco use, unhealthy diet, lack of physical exercise, alcohol abuse, toxic chemicals and environmental pollution as some of the factors fuelling the increase in cancers.
The association’s vice-chairman, Mr David Makumi said the current “fragmented” screening of cancer should end.
