City lawyer Karen Nyamu has called on the government to carry out a  National Cancer Census immediately and declare it a national disaster.

Karen who is also a board member of the Nairobi Water Company has urged Health CS Cecil Kariuki to quickly institute plans that will see cancer statistics updated, arguing that the current stats are six years old.

“The cancer statistics available are 6 years old and they indicate that cancer accounts for 7% of overall mortality rate.We know the prevalence has multiplied,” Karen said.

She argued that the government should have taken advantage of the August national census to collect new statistics on cancer related issues.

Kenya is among the leading countries in Africa on matters cancer diagnosis but unreported cases due to lack of access to treatment remains to be a big challenge.