Kericho County to set up cancer centre
Kericho Governor Paul Chepkwony addresses reporters at the Council of Governors' offices in Westlands, Nairobi, on December 8, 2017 on health matters affecting his county. The county wants to build a cancer centre. PHOTO | JEFF ANGOTE | NATION MEDIA GROUP
What you need to know:
- Governor Chepkwony said the centre will offer affordable cancer treatment using proton therapy technology.
- The cancer centre will be another score for the county, which was last month praised for performing the first heart surgery.
The Kericho County government has announced plans to set up a cancer centre in the region in an agreement with a US hospital.
Governor Paul Chepkwony said the centre, one of a kind, will offer affordable cancer treatment using proton therapy technology.
He said the centre will help alleviate the burden of cancer treatment, which is still a preserve of a few.
Currently, radiotherapy and chemotherapy are the mainstay of treatment in Kenya.
TEXAS CENTRE
However, the two are only available in two major public hospitals – Kenyatta National Hospital (KNH) and Moi Teaching and Referral Hospital.
The Kericho facility will be built in partnership with the Texas Centre for Proton Therapy.
“Patients are desperately in need of this treatment since the available options are highly limited and the supply side of it cannot meet the demand.
"Some people resort to alternative therapies such as the use of traditional herbal medicine and traditional incisions,” Prof Chepkwony said.
The county boss said the centre will provide alternative treatment options like proton therapy.
KNH
The cost barrier to the ones available (chemotherapy, surgical interventions and radiotherapy), was also a reason why a majority of cancer patients are dying of the disease, he added.
The centre will be another score for the county, which was last month praised for performing the first heart surgery.
“Therefore, the plan to have a proton therapy centre in Kericho is very important to us and the country at large.”
“All referrals for radiotherapy in the country end up in one radiotherapy centre – KNH – with a consequent ripple effect of massive congestion, delays and frequent breakdown of the radiotherapy equipment,” he observed.
HEALTHCARE
At least seven counties have in the past four years performed milestone procedures, which included caesarean section births as well as brain and heart surgeries, most of which were once a preserve of major hospitals in the country and international health facilities.
From Embu to Lamu, Makueni to Garissa, Kakamega to Mandera, the counties have been lauded for improving access to healthcare services to residents through the provision of free maternal healthcare to pregnant women and services to the elderly.
Some counties such as Garissa and West Pokot have been celebrated for increasing the number of deliveries at health facilities and reducing maternal mortality rates through a raft of innovative measures.
DEVOLUTION
Garissa County introduced maternal shelters, kits, incentives for traditional birth attendants and community health workers and the use of WhatsApp messaging to connect health facilities.
Besides infrastructure, health has been hailed as one of the best success stories of devolution and the backbone of development in the regional governments.
Stakeholders have said that devolution has improved accountability and the delivery of services.
The docket has, however, faced teething problems, including strikes by doctors and nurses and poor funding, affecting service delivery.
