Kenyans more aware of cancer, but screening lags behind

Nearly all men in Kenya have not been tested for prostate cancer even if they are aware of the disease, a review of government statistics by Nation Newsplex shows.

Only three per cent of men had been tested for prostate cancer overall, according to the 2014 Kenya Demographic and Health Survey (KDHS). While four per cent of the wealthiest fifth of men surveyed had been tested for cancer, less wealthy men fared progressively worse, with men from lower quintiles being tested for prostate cancer at rates of 2.5 per cent. 2.5 per cent, 1.8 per cent, and 1.5 per cent respectively.

The low rates of testing for both men and women mean that detecting cancer early, when the disease is most easily cured, is less likely.

Women also get examined for cervical cancer and examine themselves for breast cancer at significantly higher rates than men.

As the world commemorates World Cancer Day, Nation Newsplex analysed health data about awareness and testing for cancer of the breast and cervix in women, and the prostate gland in men.

According to the World Health Organisation, the prostate is the second-most frequent site for cancer diagnosis in males after the lung worldwide. Among women, the breast is the most frequent site for diagnosis, followed by the colorectum, lung, cervix and stomach in that order.

Women in Kenya are generally better informed about cancer than men across the age groups from 15-19 to 45-49. While on average, 77 per cent of women in each age group have heard of cervical cancer, only 66 per cent of men in each age group have heard about prostate cancer.

Women also get examined for cervical cancer and examine themselves for breast cancer at significantly higher rates than men get examined for prostate cancer across all age groups.

On average, 15 per cent of the women in each age group surveyed were examined for cervical cancer while 26 per cent of women in each age group had examined themselves for breast cancer. These were more than more than five and eight times the average percentage of men examined for prostate cancer, which was almost three per cent.

The survey that involved 40,300 households show that although the cancer awareness of both men and women appears to improve with increased income and education, there are only tiny increases in testing, particularly for men.

NAIROBI AND CENTRAL LEAD

When analysed geographically, the highest rates of testing for both men and women were found in Nairobi, where 96 per cent of all men who responded indicated they had not been examined for prostate cancer, even if 66 per cent were aware of the disease.

Roughly one quarter, or 23 per cent, of women in Nairobi indicated they had been tested for cervical cancer, even if 90 per cent of women surveyed in the capital were aware of the disease, while 37 per cent of the women in Nairobi also examined themselves for breast cancer.

Similar gaps between awareness and testing were found in Central, where 22 per cent of women were tested for cervical cancer although 88 per cent were aware of the disease. Slightly more than half (51 per cent) of the women surveyed indicted they examine themselves for breast cancer. While Central boasts the highest awareness of prostate cancer in the country, only three per cent indicated they had been tested for the disease.

In Nyanza 13 per cent of women were tested for cervical cancer, even if women there have similar awareness to Nairobi and Central, at 85 per cent, while 13 per cent indicated they had examined themselves for breast cancer. While 72 per cent of men surveyed in Nyanza indicated they were aware of prostate cancer in Nyanza, only about three per cent said they had been examined for it.

In Eastern, 80 per cent of women indicated they were aware of cervical cancer, only four per cent inducted they had been examined for it. Thirty per cent of women examined themselves for breast cancer. While 66 per cent of men indicted they were aware of prostate cancer, only four per cent inducted they had been tested for it at a medical facility.

In Western, 68 per cent of women surveyed indicated they were aware of breast cancer, while 8 per cent indicated they had been examined for it, and 15 per cent examined themselves for breast cancer.  While about 57 per cent of men were aware of prostate cancer, less than one per cent indicated they had been examined for the condition.

In the Rift Valley region, 72 per cent of women were aware of cervical cancer, while only 12 per cent indicate they had actually been examined in a hospital, and 25 per cent of women examined themselves for breast cancer. Less than two per cent of men surveyed in Rift Valley indicated they had been examined for prostate cancer.

NORTH EASTERN

In the Coast region, 65 per cent of women surveyed are aware of cervical cancer while only eight per cent have actually been tested, and 18 per cent of women surveyed examine themselves for breast cancer. Only one per cent of men at the Coast indicted they were examined for prostate cancer, even if 53 per cent were aware.

In North Eastern, zero per cent of men and less than one per cent of women indicated having been tested for prostate cancer and cervical cancer respectively, while only two per cent of women do self-examinations for breast cancer.

In fact, North Eastern is the only region in the country where men are more knowledgeable about prostate cancer than women are about cervical cancer.  Roughly a quarter of men surveyed (23 per cent) indicated they were familiar with prostate cancer, while only five per cent of women were familiar with cervical cancer.

Education can be associated with increased knowledge of cervical cancer among women. More than four-fifths of women who had completed their secondary education (87 per cent) were aware of the disease, up from 33 per cent among those who had no primary education. However, only 18 per cent of women who had finished high school indicated they had been tested for it.

Similarly to women, 31 per cent of men with no primary education were aware of prostate cancer. That figure more than doubled after the completion of secondary education to 76 per cent. However, only three per cent of men who had finished both primary and secondary school indicated they had been examined for prostate cancer by a doctor or other healthcare provider.

Women who had completed primary education used self-examination for breast cancer more than three times those who had no education at all, while those who had completed secondary education used the technique more than five times those who were uneducated.