SPEECH BY GOVERNOR KIRAITU MURUNGI DURING THE WORLD CANCER DAY HELD AT TUSKYS CAR PARK ON 4^TH JANUARY, 2019.

Allow me to begin by welcoming our visitors to Meru County. I wish to sincerely thank the organizers for choosing Meru to host this year’s World Cancer Day. I have come here to fulfil my election promises. I promised to give priority to prevention and treatment of cancer. We are working closely with the national government to make Meru Great.

This event is timely and relevant to us because Meru is the leading county in the number of cancer cases countrywide. In the recent past, there has been a change in disease patterns with non-communicable diseases now on the rise. Cancer was once considered a disease of the rich, but that is no longer the case. Scientists have described it as the most democratic of all diseases because it can affect anyone. There is an estimated 40,000 new cancer cases diagnosed every year in the country. Data from Kenya Medical Research Institute (KEMRI) shows that close to 3,000 cases every year are diagnosed from among Meru County residents. Most of these are cancers of the gastro-intestinal tract.

Unfortunately majority of cancer cases are diagnosed late, making IT not only difficult but also expensive to treat. Several families have been impoverished by the high cost of treatment of these cancers. It is in recognition of this burden on the people of Meru that my Government chose to put a special focus on equipping the cancer unit at the Meru Teaching and Referral Hospital; with a goal of ultimately having a fully-fledged cancer centre.

I want to sincerely thank the Ministry of Health for choosing Meru County as one of the eight counties being supported to have a fully-fledged chemotherapy centre. The Meru Teaching and Referral Hospital has already received 5 chemotherapy chairs, a biosafety cabinet, breast cancer screening gadgets and several consignments of chemotherapy drugs. They have gone a long way in reducing the traffic of cancer patients from Meru to Nairobi. However, there is still a huge resource gap and we shall be coming back to you to ask for more.

Our cancer Unit is now the best in the region, attending to patients from Meru and neighbouring counties. In fact, we have had patients come from as far as Nyeri and Embu counties to receive chemotherapy. It is no wonder therefore that the Unit is overwhelmed by patient numbers.

We are expanding the Unit with the goal of having a fully functional cancer centre. Given other pressing demands, it is quite challenging for the county government to build the cancer centre on our own. It is for this reason that I would like to extend my request to you Madam Cabinet Secretary to assist the county in building and equipping a cancer centre.

Let us cooperate in cancer treatment. Allow me to thank the cancer fraternity for initiating free cancer screening services in which many people have turned up. However, cancer screening without treatment is just permanent death sentence to our people. We have for the first time engaged oncologist to treat cancer patients in Meru Level Five Hospital. We are also planning to decongest the Meru Level 5 Hospital to make it a specialised Teaching and Referral Hospital. At the same time, we are enhancing our Level 4 hospitals to enable them handle most cases that are currently being handled at the Meru Level 5 hospital.

From now onwards, Meru Level 5 will be reserved as a Referral Hospital. All patients will be required to go to other hospitals.

My government is putting a lot of emphasis on preventive health. Prevention is always better than cure. Screening and early detection is an effective way of controlling cancer. The choice of Meru County as the place to launch the National Cancer Screening Guidelines is therefore most appropriate.

The financial burden of cancer treatment and the resultant detriments cannot be over emphasized. The astronomical costs of treatment have left several families poor. In the modern society, no family should become poor while seeking for health services. This is the principle behind the President’s agenda of Universal Health Care. We are looking at complementing the National Government’s effort by introducing our county specific universal health care program named Meru Care. We are currently undertaking feasibility studies on the same. Once the report is ready we shall forward the proposals to the county assembly for approval, with a possibility of roll out later in the year.

I appeal to President Uhuru Kenyatta to allocate more resources to the prevention, treatment, management of cancer. Most patients are going to India.

I wish to further extend my gratitude to all partners who have joined us today. I invite you all to continue partnering with us. We are open to partnerships with like-minded partners. Each of us has a role in the fight against cancer.

Thank You and May God Bless You All.