The Council of Governors health committee chairperson and Tharaka Nithi Governor Muthomi Njuki wants county governments to enhance cancer screening under the new health plan being rolled out in collaboration with the National Government, even as he calls for the speedy setting up of regional cancer centres.
According to Governor Njuki, most cancer patients are being diagnosed when it is too late for treatment to help, yet a bigger percentage of counties have screening services at the most basic health centres.
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He has called for enhanced surveillance, not just for women, but also for men, insisting the prevalence, more so in the Mt. Kenya East region was alarming.
Speaking in Chuka where he met a delegation from Jhpiego, a nonprofit organization for international health affiliated with Johns Hopkins University, the CoG health committee chairperson noted the urgency to strengthen primary healthcare networks in counties so as to enhance the capacity of level 1 and 2 health facilities testing for diseases such as cancer, which has been likened to a death sentence.
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According to a study published in the British Journal of Healthcare and Medical Research - Vol. 10 dated 25th January 2023, that tracked the trend of cancer incidences and death
rate for the last eight years (2011 to 2018) using the hospital data, the prevalence of cancer in people visiting hospitals in Meru and Tharaka Nithi Counties was 0.32% and 0.38% respectively.
Governor Njuki wants all residents of Tharaka Nithi screened for cancer in the next year.
The County Government of Tharaka Nithi is also partnering with JHPIEGO to offer training for medical staff dealing with cancer screening and training as a key way to combat deaths occurring from cancer - the number 3 killer disease in the country.
Njuki also says the enhanced screening will inform the speedy set up of cancer centres that will be sent up.
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