Ministry of Health Cabinet Secretary, Cleopa Mailu, urged the players in the pharmaceutical industry to come up with ways that would ensure that the cost of essential drugs come down to manageable levels where most segments of the society can access them.
“Non-communicable diseases, like cancer, are not just a serious threat to social and economic development, but also to our very existence, if proper interventions are not put in place,” Mailu said late on Friday after the launch of the East African Development Bank Medical Training and Fellowship Program.
Deaths from cancers have been on the increase in the East African region, with figures showing 50 Kenyans dying daily from various forms of cancer.
The trend is the same across East Africa, with the main cause being associated with lack of treatment facilities and expertise for treatment, prevention and early detection.
Mailu revealed that Kenya has about 40,000 new cases of cancer and 27,000 deaths attributed to the non communicable disease, which is about 7 percent of the annual mortality.
He also said that the high morbidity of the disease in the region was characterized by high proportions of advanced cases owing to late presentation at health facilities, delays in diagnosis and treatment, besides the acute shortage of specialized cancer clinicians.
The fight against non-communicable diseases and in particular cancer and neurological disorders in East Africa, however, has got a boost with the launch of the medical program by the East African Development Bank to train 600 physicians in the next four years.
The countries that stand to benefit from the programme include Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania and Rwanda. Enditem
Source: Xinhua/News Ghana
