Health Cabinet Secretary Mutahi Kagwe has said the government has instituted a host of reforms aimed at revolutionising the country’s healthcare delivery.
Appearing before the parliamentary committee via a virtual link, alongside Chief Administrative Secretary, Dr Mercy Mwangangi, and other senior officials from the ministry of Health, Kagwe presented a positive outlook for the health sector when he appeared before the senate committee on health.
He said the government has identified priority areas, based on the country’s disease burden, and developed targeted interventions to deal with emerging challenges.
On the state of healthcare services for cancer patients in public health facilities, the CS said the country has established world class infrastructure to better deal with the disease.
“If there is an area, we can be proud of as a country, it is the area of cancer in terms of what we have begun to do,” observed the CS.
“Since January of this year, we have treated over 200 people who would otherwise have gone to India were it not for the fact that we have the integrated molecular centre at Kenyatta University Teaching and Referral Hospital, (KUTRH). This is the first time ever that we have replaced the issue of going to India with people actually being treated here,” added the health CS.
Kagwe said the government is engaging foreign governments, state and non-state actors to enhance the capacity of the country’s healthcare workers in an effort to improve cancer treatment and related services.
“In an arrangement we have between KUTRH, Kisii University and the Christie Institute in the UK, we believe that we are going to increase exponentially the number of skilled personnel,” he told the committee.
Besides the push to redesign the curriculum of health professionals to respond to technological advancements and changing health care needs, Kagwe said the cancer taskforce which is mandated with reviewing the institutional, policy and legal framework for cancer management in the country, is expected within the next one month to come up with a comprehensive structure of how cancer is going to be managed in Kenya.
The data presented to the Senate Health committee indicates that six counties from the region top the first 10 devolved units with the highest number of cases in the country.
It showed that Nyeri, Murang’a, Kirinyaga and Embu counties have the highest disease prevalence.
In Nyeri, cancer incidence stands at 2,127 for every 100,000 people, followed by Murang’a which accounts for 2,123 cases and Kirinyaga’s 2,033 cases.
Embu has 1,906 cases, Taita Taveta 1,884 and Machakos has 1,844 for every 100,000 people.
Kiambu, Meru, Nyandarua and Vihiga top the list of first 10 counties with the highest cancer burden.
Kiambu has 1,793, Meru 1,789, Nyandarua 1,776 and Vihiga has 1,766 cases.
Other counties with high cancer cases are Laikipia (1,740), Makueni (1,692), Kisii (1,670), Tharaka Nithi (1,644), Lamu (1,641), Siaya (1,630), Kitui (1,624) and Nakuru (1,612).
The Northern region has the least number of cancer cases in the country.
The cases are least in Wajir (1,221), Mandera (1,224), Garissa (1,257), West Pokot (1,273), Turkana (1,289) and Samburu (1,313).
According to the report, cancer is the third leading cause of death after infectious and cardiovascular (heart-related) diseases.
About 42,116 cases of cancer are reported every year.
“Cancer screening and diagnostic imaging services are available in all 47 counties through MES (Managed Equipment Services) project,” Kagwe said in the report.
However, diagnostic histopathology services are available in only 10 of the 47 country referral hospitals.
“Eleven county referral facilities are providing chemotherapy services with three set to begin providing radiotherapy services in this financial year,” the report states.
Nairobi has the highest capacity to treat cancer. The report says the capital city is the only county able to use nuclear medicine to treat the scourge.