The Government Raise Alarm Over Low Uptake Of Cancer Screening.
Why take a cancer screening? The government of Kenya has raised alarm over the low uptake of cancer screening among eligible people.
The government offers breast cancer screening for eligible women and the low uptake of the screening exercise has attracted concerns from the government.
Dr Patrick Amoth, the acting director-general for the department of health has said that the rise of cancer cases in the country is attributed to late diagnosis.
The head of Inter-Governmental and International Health relations at the Ministry of Health, Dr Lenai Kamario revealed that only 13.6 percent of Kenyans were screened for breast cancer in the oast months. He revealed this during the launch of Breast Cancer Awareness Action Plan 2021-2025 at the Nakuru Level Five Hospital at the weekend.
He insisted that there is an urgent need to bridge the gap between screening and medication.
According to his report, he noted that 70 percent of cancer cases are diagnosed late nothing much can be done to curb the situation.
He further informed people that the government has developed policy guidelines geared towards minimizing the prevalence of breast cancer in the eligible population by 50 % by the year 2025. He added that this can only be achieved through regular screening, early diagnosis and treatment.
Kenya registered a total of 2,553 deaths in 2019 from breast cancer and in 2020 the number rose to 3,157.
Breast cancer can also afflict men but it is most common in middle-aged women between 35 and 45 years.
Breast cancer patients in Kenya and East Africa now have a new surgical option that eliminates exposure to radioactive materials and offers a less invasive, more flexible alternative for cancer detection.
Known as the Sentimag Guidance System in breast cancer surgery, the treatment is now available at MP Shah Hospital.
The currently favoured treatment for breast cancer patients is the surgical removal of the tumour and then a lymphatic mapping procedure to determine whether or not cancer has spread to other parts of the body.
Women of the eligible group are urged to go for a cancer screening for early diagnosis and treatment in case cancer is detected.
