Today i begin on a very sad note,the other week i did an article about a young family from Kisii whom their second born daughter,Nelvin was battling nephroblastoma.Unfortunately the child passed on last monday at MTRH.She was due to start chemo but then they had been discharged home as they awaited for the return date,however they had to come earlier than scheduled after the child developed anorexia and dyphagia.The child passed on immediately upon arrival and the several months of misery came to an end,my condolences to the family and may she R.I.P.This is not to mention the fact that they came all the way from Kisii county,today she was laid to rest at Nakuru cemetry.Why the burial at cemetry?I know thats the question lingering on your mind,well i will refer you to my previous article to get an insight of the matter.
Misfortunes of this world,cancer included knows no race ,gender nor tribe or so they say.The quality of healthcare in this country is still at developing stage,especially in the mashinani where common mwananchi is found,with devolution however there has been slight improvement though not to the desirable optimum.It mostly depends on which county one is coming from,with respect to palliative care its only fair to say that practically nothing is happening in most counties except in Nairobi,Eldoret,Kisumu and may be Mombasa.While he served as the health CS Mr Macharia stated that the govt have plans to avail cancer equipment worth Sh21.5billion in at least 94 hospitals across the country and was setting up four cancer radiology centers set to be launched by July in Nairobi, Mombasa, Kisumu, and Nyeri counties and is also set to cater for patients from other countries in East Africa.Until then the hoi polloi of this country will be at the mercy of the Lord,shockingly the Cs clearly stated that over 10,000 cancer patients in Kenya spend Sh11.28billion for treatment in hospitals overeas.Yes,you heard it right 11 billion and for your information Cancer deaths in the country are third after infectious diseases and cardiovascular ailments. Each year, according to the Ministry of Health, there are nearly 40, 000 confirmed cancer cases.This is suppose to raise genuine concern of any responsible leader worth its name. Both at the national and county level.Health is a fully devolved funtion of the county government.Sometime last year the health workers wanted to petition parliament to reverse health funtion to the national government citing mismanagement,however the governers were up in arms and the story ended there.
It is therefore imperative that palliative care should and must be everyones business.Today you are in good health, tomorrow is in the hands of the almighty God.Mr kipkirui lelgo higlighted the story of Agnes Cherotich of Kenegut battling Ca breast,complete with pictures to back it up however scary they may have been on social media last week,and i was glad and delighted in equal measure,concerned Kenyans expressed their sympathy,others pledging donations,however it should not stop there.We should look beyond and modify our lifestyles which largely constitute rrisk factors as advised by the experts.I personaly visited Agnes at Rehema ward in MTRH.I am glad she is responding well to treatment and hopefully she will be back to her normal life soon.Aproximately 900 metres away in memorial wing within the same hospital is another old man from Kericho as well battling Ca stomach,and the story goes on and on....I want to end it here today with a polite request to Kericho county and South rift leadership in general,there is a greater need to create a focus and establish reason for the spiraling cases of cancer from the region,efforts should focus on screening,management and timely refferal,when the worst comes to worst as is mostly the case,there should be an hospice so that the terminally ill can spend their last days in peace.Have a blessed week,wont you?
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