Stop the Hypocrisy! Cancer Patients Deserve Full Covers and Kenyans Need Preventive Care

As families nursing cancer patients continue to desperately seek treatment options for their loved ones, the Government is yet to fully put its weight behind these patients despite the scary survey statistics being released each year.

The life for a Kenyan diagnosed with cancer is painted grim, full of frustrations with a majority of such patients having to rest in pain awaiting death.

Celebrating the World Cancer Day reminded me of a number of lives I have watched succumb to cancer and the pain of watching helplessly as they breathed their last. In one case, we all gathered together in despair not sure whether our loved was still alive or not. We bundled together and could literally smell death as frantic calls to secure an ICU were made.

250,000 shillings…300,000 shillings…was the price it was going to cost us to secure an ICU that would not even reinstate good health! Life is so dear and that is only clear when one is at the verge of losing it.

Watching cancer patients, especially your loved ones, fight for another day with institutions that are poorly equipped and understaffed despite the exploitive taxes we as citizens have to part with could trigger a level of bitterness that is not healthy for any country’s patriotism.

Rich Kenyans keep on getting richer while the poor are succumb as a result of tailored vices. The National Health Insurance Fund (NHIF) has been mentioned in a number of financial scandals which is frustrating to hear for every cancer patient struggling to pay the monthly 500 shillings to access financial aid.

NHIF is not meeting its full potential when it comes to cancer burden in the country as it is yet to avail cancer preventative care and instead concentrates largely on providing treatment. Cancer preventative care would go a long way to reduce the number of deaths the country is witnessing as it would ensure timely diagnosis. A timely cancer diagnosis is possible when a majority of Kenyans who hail from very poor backgrounds are able to access the services without having to worry about the financial strain.

NHIF needs to fully cover all types of cancers if it is to fully deliver on its mandate and it is currently not doing so hence sending a large number of cancer patients in Kenya straight to early graves.

Texas Centre, founded by Doctor Nyongesa, in Nairobi is one of the lifesaving centers for poor cancer patients in Kenya. Texas Centre has received over 10,000 cancer patients since 2010 with a majority of the patients lacking the financial capability to seek treatment which stretches the Centre’s resources. Texas offers radiotherapy to 100 patients daily from Monday to Friday and Chemotherapy to 20 patients on a daily basis.

Cancer patients on Chemotherapy pay around150, 000 shillings for six cycles which require four to five months.

Cancer patients on complex Chemotherapy pay 600,000 shillings for four circles which NHIF does not pay for leaving the whole financial burden to the patient.

Kenyatta National Hospital is the only public facility known to offer cancer treatment and care and despite this, the facility is poorly equipped and understaffed.

KNH has three functional radiotherapy machines; causing a long queue of patients that wait for months or worse still, years.

NHIF requires new members to wait up to 3 months during which one will still be contributing 500 shillings for their card to get activated. As patients wait for three months for the NHIF card to be activated, they have to foot all their medical bills from their pockets.

Cancer patients travel from far and wide, from Kenya’s 46 counties to seek treatment from one county facility that is Kenya’s national referral hospital.

Over 200 cancer patients are placed on radiotherapy at KNH against a devastating 1,200 patients who require urgent radiotherapy every day leaving 1000 patients unattended every day.

Cancer patients require 25 to 30 sessions of radiotherapy and 5 to 10 in later stages of the illness.

Cancer is the third leading killer disease after malaria and pneumonia, according to the 2014 Economic Survey while about 40,000 new cases are diagnosed every year as 27,000 deaths occur which is mostly attributed to inadequate treatment.

Cancer was the leading cause of death in Nyanza IN 2012 causing 2,092 deaths, 1,993deaths in Central Kenya, 1,985deaths in Western, 1,297 deaths in South Rift, 1,044deaths in North Rift and 859 deaths in Coast according to the Economic Survey 2013.

In Nairobi, Eastern and North Eastern regions, cancer was the second killer disease after Tuberculosis.

READ MORE: Kenya Loses 90 People Daily to Cancer – Lifestyle Largely to Blame

As the World marked the International Cancer Day, one thing stood out clearly, the plight of the Kenyan Cancer Patient has not improved but has instead worsened given the growing number of diagnosis. The Government has greatly relented on its fight against cancer and despite being in 2019, awareness is still lacking greatly

The National health insurance fund is failing Kenyans by failing to provide a comprehensive preventive cover, why wait until Cancer has eaten away an individual to bring treatment when it could have been avoided in the first place. NHIF needs to stop the hypocrisy of offering partial treatment covers to cancer patients and just fully cover them whether complex or not, after all, are we not all taxpayers?

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