A day after Bomet Governor Joyce Laboso succumbed to cancer, pressure is mounting on the government to act on the disease including declaring it a national disaster.

Members of the National Assembly and the Senate said declaring the disease a national disaster would give it the attention it deserves.

The disease dominated debate in both chambers as Parliament who paid glowing tribute to Laboso and Kibra MP Ken Okoth who died on Friday last week after battling cancer for a long time.

In National Assembly, Speaker Justin Muturi said legislators were ready to commit more funds to fight the disease.

Leader of Majority Aden Duale regretted that the cancer scourge was discussed only when it claimed the lives of prominent people yet thousands of poor Kenyans were dying silently.

Duale who revealed that he lost his sister to cancer, said there was need for Parliament to pass laws and provide budgetary allocation to fight the disease.

“As the House that represents the people of Kenya, we cannot continue to bury our heads in the sand anymore. We need budgetary allocation to fight this disease that is wiping out our people. It is time this House becomes the real budget making House,” Duale said.

In the Senate, members said cancer treatment should be offered free of charge in all hospitals and be classified under the Universal Health Care programme.

“There is undue focus on treatment which in itself is very expensive and way out of reach for the common person,” said Senate Majority Leader Kipchumba Murkomen.

Other Members of Parliament and various players in the health sector who spoke earlier in the day want the government to come up with a better strategy to fight the disease that claims 33,000 lives annually. At least 48,000 people are diagnosed with cancer each year in the country. 

Laikipia Woman Representative Catherine Waruguru, who has presented a motion in the National Assembly urging the government to declare cancer a national disaster, said once she develops it into a bill and it is passed by Parliament, Treasury will be compelled to allocate Sh14 billion each year to fight the disease in all counties.

Not achieved much

“In less than a year, the disease has claimed four prominent people in the country including former Baringo South MP Grace Kipchoim, former Safaricom CEO Bob Collymore, Okoth and now Laboso. When shall we do something even for the common mwananchi in the rural areas who is suffering from cancer?” posed the legislator.

A bill by Homa Bay Woman Representative Gladys Wanga, the Cancer Prevention and Control (Amendment) Bill 2015, is awaiting scrutiny by the parliamentary committee on health. If Parliament approves it, cancer would be considered a critical component of primary care in health facilities.

Last week, in an interview for a special cancer series that starts today in the People Daily, the chief executive director of the National Cancer Institute, Dr Alfred Karagu, said the government should give as much attention to cancer as it did HIV/Aids in 1999 when it was declared a national disaster. 

At the time, President Daniel arap Moi announced emergency measures to curb the spread of the disease and set up the National Aids Control Council that coordinated the fight against the scourge.  The institute is doing the same with the fight against cancer but with an annual budgetary allocation of only Sh14 million and staff challenges, it has not achieved much.

Yesterday, Waruguru rooted for removal of taxes on all cancer related-drugs. A non-governmental organisation, Limau Cancer Connection, started an online campaign to collect 75,000 signatures to petition the government to remove taxes on cancer treatment. 

Health Cabinet Secretary Health Cabinet Secretary Sicily Kariuki said the ministry had developed a policy and is breaking it into guidelines that will be issued across the country as a way of mitigating the rising number of cancer and cancer related complications. 

The National Cancer Control Strategy 2017-2022 is currently guiding the war against the disease and provides a strategic framework to fight the scourge and improve the quality of life for patients. 

New cases diagnosed

“We are doing everything possible to ensure this worrying trend is contained though we cannot do it alone as a National government. The Health docket is devolved and so we are doing this in partnership with counties,” she said. 

Kariuki, who led a moment of silence at Itiira Secondary School in Mbeere North, to remember Laboso, said that over 48,000 new cases of cancer are diagnosed every year.

 The CS challenged Kenyans to be mindful of their health status through adopting a more promotive and preventative approach to healthcare.

She emphasised the need for early detection of non-communicable diseases especially cancer which is not only a concern in Kenya, but also globally.

David Makumi, the vice-chairman of the Non Communicable Diseases Alliance of Kenya (NCD-AK), said the government needs to come up with regional cancer centres with adequate screening infrastructure.