LEADERSHIP
The War Against Cancer:
Could Awareness Be The
Key To Winning?
By George Mbithi
N
ot a day goes by without us
hearing of 'cancer' and the harm
it causes on humans. In recent
days, the media has reported several high
profile personalities who passed on due
to the killer disease. In July 2019 alone,
three high profile personalities lost the
battle to cancer. These are Safaricom’s
Chief Executive Officer Bob Collymore,
Kibra MP Hon. Ken Okoth, and Bomet
Governor Dr. Joyce Laboso. They are just
the few who make it to the news.
In 2015, The Daily Nation reported that
the rate of death from cancer in Kenya is
far outpacing population growth and may
double by 2026! The report continued
that “cancer is now the third leading cause
of death in Kenya and is threatening to
move further up the list of top killers in
the coming decade”.
Cancer, like diabetes and heart disease,
is a non-communicable disease, which
means it cannot be spread from person to
person.
Non-communicable diseases have become
a major health problem in developing
countries, and also a matter of global
concern. At the post-2015 agenda summit
that was held from September 25, in New
York, world leaders adopted the reduction
of death from non-communicable diseases
by one-third by 2030 as a sustainable
development target.
Despite this, Cancer has continued to
move up to be a leading cause of death
worldwide, causing more deaths than
HIV, TB, and Malaria combined!With
the manner in which Cancer has become
a killer in Kenya and with growing calls
to declare it a national disaster, one has
to ask… what is it that we are not doing
right? Are we just lamenting the loss of
high profile personalities, eulogizing them,
and then we go back to factory settings, to
try and make ends meet for ourselves?
I had a conversation with one of my
colleagues and we realized there is very
little information out there concerning
cancer. The awareness that exists about the
killer disease is only on who lost the battle,
how painful it is to die of the disease, and
It has to be noted that survival chances high-
ly depend on when diagnosis is done. Most
medics agree that late diagnosis will mean
you can only manage the disease but can’t
cure it. The question here is, when did you
last go for screening not because you feel un-
well, but just to check your health status?
Even the Annual Medical Check Ups are not
so common in Kenya.
36 MAL31/19 ISSUE
how expensive it is to seek treatment.
This led to my researching on cancer, to
understand it a bit better and thus the
writing of this article.
What Is Cancer
Many sources I checked had different
explanation of what cancer is, but all of
them seemed to agree that it is a growth of
abnormal cells that multiply uncontrollably
in the body. Mayo Foundation for Medical
Education and Research (MFMER)
explains that such cells infiltrate and harm
the healthy body tissues and may spread to
other parts of the body.
Cancer remains one of the deadliest
diseases on earth today after claiming
millions of lives globally. Nevertheless,
new developments in cancer screening
and cancer treatment have augmented the
survival rates for most types of cancer.
It has to be noted that survival chances
highly depend on when diagnosis is done.
Most medics agree that late diagnosis will
mean you can only manage the disease but
can’t cure it. The question here is, when
did you last go for screening not because
you feel unwell, but just to check your
health status? Even the Annual Medical
Check Ups are not so common in Kenya.
They remain a practice only for middle
class upwards, and mostly for people with
medical insurance cover.
What Causes Cancer?
Cancer is triggered by the mutations in
the DNA of the cells found in one’s body.