How cancer is decimating the women of Kilifi County

Picture showing women in an arid part of Kilifi town. [Photo: Courtesy]

In Kilifi County, cancer accounts for 5 per cent of diseases reported in local public hospitals annually.

Despite efforts by different players to combat the killer disease in the community, cancer cases continue to rise at a high rate.

In Kenya, cancer has been ranked third killer disease after HIV/AIDs, tuberculosis (TB) and malaria.

Recent statistics by Health Global Enterprises indicate seven per cent of reported deaths in Kenya are caused by cancer. Health Global Enterprises is India's largest provider of cancer care.

Approximately more than 39,000 cases are being reported yearly worldwide, while 27,000 patients out of the reported cases die in the course of fighting the killer disease.

However, a report from research has established that the absence of modern medical equipment, lack of awareness about cancer, lack of early medical attention and high cost of medication are the main reasons why the disease is uncontrollable and is affecting Kenyans at a high rate.

More than 250 cancer cases are reported annually in Kilifi County Hospital, Malindi and Mariakani sub-county hospitals annually.

Medical records

The cases include cervical cancer, breast cancer and Leukemia, among other types of cancer. Sixty per cent of patients who visit the health facilities are aged below 70 years, according to medical records.

The Standard has established the rural parts of Kilifi County record high number of cancer patients due to lack of awareness.

Kache Nyundo, a mother of three, resides in a rural Sabasaba village in Matsangoni location and has been battling cancer for six years, which was diagnosed in 2012 when she was having her third pregnancy.

“A swelling developed on my private parts and I thought it was a normal swelling which would disappear as time went by. It continued to develop and I showed it to my husband who ordered me to go back to my parents’ home because of the condition. He told me he could not stay with me. I went back and the condition worsened but since I was pregnant, I persevered until I gave birth to my child,” said Kache.

When she sought medical attention, doctors administered drugs and assured her that her condition would improve.  But the condition worsened.

Kache had courage to speak but one could tell from her facial expressions that she had lost hope in life.

Priscilla Chizi, who is suffering from breast cancer, narrates how she discovered she had developed cancer.

She noticed a swelling in her breast and assumed the swelling was due to pregnancy.

Like Kache, Priscilla’s suffered double jeopardy because she was diagnosed during the recent nurses' strike and she was left to her own devices.

Statistics from 2014 to February 2017 indicate 95 cases of cervical cancer and 24 cases of breast cancer were recorded at the Kilifi County hospital and 497 cases of other forms of cancer were recorded in that period.

Kilifi County head of medical department, Dr Grace Baya, says cervical cancer is the leading form of cancer in the region.

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