This archive report was first published on 10 August 2019.
On Thursday evening, a 65-year-old man from Kwa Mwaura village in Laikipia East Sub-county took his own life, just hours after being screened for cancer. The man, who was not immediately identified, hanged himself in his house.
Laikipia county police boss Maxwell Nyaema revealed that the deceased left behind a suicide note, stating that he acted alone and that no one should be blamed for his demise. The note was found in his house, approximately 200 meters from Kalalu trading center.
This incident comes on the heels of a similar tragedy in Naivasha, where a 40-year-old woman took her own life after being diagnosed with breast cancer. Purity Muthoni hanged herself in her sister's house in Kasarani Estate, after traveling from Kenyatta National Hospital (KNH) where she had gone for treatment.
According to a neighbor, Muthoni had told her friends that she did not want to undergo the pain that other cancer victims had endured. The mother of two had been undergoing treatment in different hospitals before her diagnosis.
Cancer has become a growing concern in Kenya, with the disease now accounting for seven percent of the overall mortality rate. The number of people diagnosed with cancer has tripled in the last couple of years, with as many as 133 people being diagnosed every day. Unfortunately, many Kenyans are diagnosed too late for treatment, with approximately 90 people dying from cancer daily.
