Why Meru is right host of World Cancer Day

Meru County will host the World Cancer Day celebrations today with mass screening in Meru Town.

According to Dr Joshua Kibera, an anatomical pathologist at GracePark hospital in Meru Town, up to 40 test-requests delivered to his pathology lab from Meru and neighbouring counties turn out positive to cancer every month.

"I handle about 20 per cent of all pathology tests from the region with other samples being sent to hospitals in Nairobi. I suspect that there are about 1,500 new cancer cases every year.

"The fact we are witnessing increased cases of children and young women with cancer is alarming. The disease should be taken seriously," Dr Kibera said during an interview at his office.

At Cottolengo Mission Hospital in Chaaria, 545 patients were diagnosed with cancer in 2018.

EQUIPMENT

The medical director, Dr Giuseppe Gaido, describes cancer as an epidemic that is claiming many lives in Meru and Northern Kenya.

"I started noticing a rise in the number of cancer patients at this facility in 2009, and the cases have been increasing. It is very worrying that more young people are being diagnosed with cancer. We have seen women as young as 31 being diagnosed with cervical cancer," Dr Gaido said.

The Meru Teaching and Referral Hospital, which now has an operational oncology clinic, registered 699 cancer patients for chemotherapy last year.

Meru Director of Medical Services Lilian Karoki says about 52 cancer patients are actively receiving chemotherapy at the facility.

Dr Karoki said the region is among eight counties set to receive support to equip an oncology unit.

PREVALENCE

Outside Meru County, data from Kenyatta National Hospital indicate that five percent of all cancer patients seen at the facility come from Meru, with the county ranked fourth after Nairobi with 26.4 percent, Kiambu 15 percent and Murang'a 6.6 percent.

Further, data by Kenya Medical Research Institute (Kemri) indicate that there were 1,633 new cancer cases in Meru between 2015 and 2016.

Medics point to increased cases of gastrointestinal cancers, such as those of the mouth, oesophagus and the stomach.

The Meru County Cancer fact sheet for 2015 to 2016 indicated that prostate, oesophagus and stomach cancers respectively were the leading among male patients.

VICTIMS

Among female patients, breast, cervix, stomach and oesophagus cancers were the most prevalent in that order.

According to a study, Esophageal Cancer Incidence at Cottolengo Mission Hospital, published in the East African Medical Journal, about 379 patients were diagnosed with oesophagus cancer between 2010 and 2017.

Dr Gaido says that three out of five endoscopies (examination of digestive tract) done at the hospital turn positive to oesophagus cancer.

"We suspect the maize being consumed in the region is to blame. However, this is subject to verification through a comprehensive research," Dr Gaido said.