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{
    "id": 928603,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/928603/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 407,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Sen. (Eng.) Mahamud",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 373,
        "legal_name": "Mohammed Maalim Mahamud",
        "slug": "mohammed-mahamud"
    },
    "content": "Thank you very much, Madam Temporary Speaker. I also rise to support the Bill by Sen. (Dr.) Ali. I thank him for bringing this very important Bill at this time in Kenya when cancer is becoming a disaster. Madam Temporary Speaker, globally, we are told that cancer causes more deaths than HIV/AIDS, TB or malaria. We are also told that 70 per cent of globally detected cancer cases are in low middle-income countries like Kenya. If detected early, 30 per cent of cancer cases are treatable. We are also told that 30 per cent of cancer patients can be provided with adequate symptoms management and palliative care if detected. In Kenya, for example, from the statistics that we got this morning, cancer is the third largest cause of morbidity in the country. After infectious diseases and cardio vascular diseases, it causes 7 per cent of deaths per year. It is difficult to get accurate national data on Kenya as someone mentioned this morning. This is because most of it is available in Nairobi and urban centres. We have no access to information on rural areas. Therefore, it is hard to get the data which is in Kenya. It is estimated that about 39,000 cases of cancer are reported in Kenya each year with more than 27,000 deaths. Cancer should be declared a disaster in this country. The campaign that was made on the HIV/AIDS scourge and other major diseases like TB and malaria helped a lot to bring awareness among our people. The focus should now be on cancer. Cancer kills slowly. People do not know about cancer until it has reached stage 3 or 4. I have never seen any person who detected cancer in the early stages and went untreated. It is a pity that our governors, MPs and chief executives of multinational companies like Safaricom discovered that they had cancer at a very late stage and could not be treated. It is very serious. Madam Temporary Speaker, there must be a campaign in this country to educate Kenyans on the dangers of cancer and a way that we can screen people early enough. The proposal by Sen. (Dr. Ali) that all hospitals be equipped with equipment that can detect cancer at the county level is good. I know that at a certain age in men when they go for annual check-up, they are tested for prostate cancer. This should be a standard practice. It is a standard procedure in many countries in the developed world. I do not think there are many hospitals in this country where you can be screened for cancer. Whereas the Ministry of Health has put in place policies and strategies for cancer prevention and control in the country, it is important that we go further and make the screening compulsory. I know that equipment that is used to detect cancer could be availed. I support the proposal brought by Sen. Mutula Kilonzo Jnr. that the additional grant to county governments by the national Government for the leasing equipment scheme be used for screening of cancer. People must be sensitized about cancer. We must have public campaigns on cancer awareness. Kenyans should come out and screen themselves the way they screen themselves for TB, malaria and other diseases. Madam Temporary Speaker, we also need to emphasize on training for medical staff at all levels. Paramedics and medical doctors need to specialize in oncology. There are very few oncologists in the country today because they are very few. This is because cancer is not considered something which is prevalent in the country and nobody takes"
}