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{
    "id": 639931,
    "url": "http://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/639931/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 72,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Hon. (Ms.) Nyasuna",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 590,
        "legal_name": "Gladys Atieno Nyasuna",
        "slug": "gladys-atieno-nyasuna"
    },
    "content": "This Motion is seeking approval of the National Assembly for the Government to offer scholarship to, at least, one Medical Masters student in each county to study oncology. They shall be further compelled to serve in county hospitals. Let me just give a brief recap of the statistics. Globally, cancer causes more deaths than HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis (TB) and malaria combined. It is also said that 70 per cent of the cancer burden is in low and middle-income countries. These statistics go against the normal thinking that cancer is a rich man’s disease. It has come across the board. The old, young, rich, the poor and everybody is affected. To quickly run through the numbers of deaths registered in Kenya, 11,995 people died from cancer in 2010, 11,500 in 2011, 12,500 in 2012, 13,720 in 2013 and 14,175 in 2014. I just want us to note the rising trend of cancer-related deaths occurring in this country. Also, here is a quick review of the availability of services for members of the public. In terms of health facilities, we have very few hospitals. In public hospitals’ realm, we only have Kenyatta National Hospital (KNH). We have Aga Khan University Hospital, Nairobi Hospital and MP Shah, which are private institutions mainly in Nairobi. They are not only far from most of Kenyans, but also very expensive. To just have one session of radiotherapy, you need to pay at least Kshs10,000. Sometimes, you need to have 30 or 60 fractions. Imagine that cost. If you go to KNH, the queuing period is now 18 months long. This is completely out of reach of Kenyans. Oncology is the study of cancer. Cancer is a disease characterised by abnormal cell growth in the body. There are three main sub specialties of oncology. We have surgical, medical and radiation oncology. In this country, we currently have four radiation oncologists, six medical oncologists, four paediatric oncologists, five radiation therapy technologists, three oncology nurses and two medical physicists to serve the entire population. That is data of the current situation. The electronic version of the Official Hansard Report is for information purposesonly. A certified version of this Report can be obtained from the Hansard Editor."
}