Cancer patients who cannot afford private healthcare are opting for herbal treatment as they await radiation treatment from public hospitals.
According to health specialists, thousands of Kenyans suffering from cancer are dying annually due to the high cost of private healthcare and the long period before a patient is scanned and treated for the disease that is the third leading cause of death in the country.
“What we are witnessing is new cancer cases. A lot needs to be done in terms of prevention and research,” says Dr Naftali Busakhala, an oncologist at Eldoret Hospital.
Statistics from the Ministry of Health indicate that cancer accounts for seven percent of annual deaths, forcing county governments to allocate more funds to set up radiation treatment facilities.
Moi Teaching and Referral Hospital in Eldoret is faced with the challenge of handling a high number of cancer patients seeking treatment from the western Kenya region.
The second largest referral hospital in the country has a unit that can handle 500 patients, which is inadequate since patients from as far as Uganda.
“The unit can handle diagnostic and chemotherapy, but the high charges are unaffordable to most patients,” says Dr Wilson Aruasa, the MTRH chief executive.
The construction the Chandaria Cancer and Chronic Disease Centre, which offers both radiotherapy and chemotherapy, has proved a relief to most cancer patients in the region.
“Cancer is treated in six cycles with charges ranging from Sh5,000 to Sh10,000. We are working with insurance agencies to make it affordable to most patients,” Dr Aruasa explained.
According to the National Cancer Institute, the number of cancer cases has been on the rise in Kenya with the country recording 47,887 new cases of all types of cancer and 32,987 deaths from all types of cancer combined.
About 90 Kenyans die from cancer daily, with many having been diagnosed too late for treatment.
But most cancer patients who cannot afford the high-priced private healthcare are turning to herbal treatment for a disease Kenyans want to be declared national disaster.
Among them is Ms Jane Busienei from Waitaluk, Trans-Nzoia County, who has been receiving herbal cancer medicine alongside conventional ones.
“I was diagnosed with breast cancer five years ago but the high treatment cost has forced me seek herbal treatment,” Ms Busienei said.
She has for the past one year been receiving a herbal concoction from Boniface Kaimburi Ndura of Kitale Nature Conservancy, which she claims has suppressed the pain.
“The combination of conventional and herbal medicine has proved much relief and I strongly believe I will soon fully recover,” Mrs Busieni said.
According to Priscillar Cherop, one of the herbalists in the region, plans are at advanced stage to draft a policy to incorporate traditional and conventional medicine in treatment of terminal diseases including cancer.
“We are working with the National Coordination Agency for Population Development on how herbal medicine can be applied in hospitals,” she said.
According to Priscilla Cherop, one of the herbalists in the region, plans are at an advanced stage to draft a policy to incorporate traditional and conventional medicine in the treatment of terminal diseases, including cancer.
