This archive report was first published on 22 September 2019.
According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), non-communicable diseases (NCDs) – mainly cancers, diabetes, cardiovascular and chronic respiratory diseases – are the biggest cause of death worldwide.
More than 36 million people die annually from NCDs, including 14 million who die before the age of 70. In Kenya, cancer is the third leading cause of death, with 47,887 new cancer cases and 32,987 annual mortality in 2018.
Early diagnosis is crucial in the fight against cancer, with the WHO stating that it generally increases the chances for successful treatment by detecting symptomatic patients as early as possible.
Delays in accessing cancer care are common, particularly in lower resource settings and vulnerable populations, resulting in lower likelihood of survival, greater morbidity of treatment and higher costs of care.
“The consequences of delayed or inaccessible cancer care are lower likelihood of survival, greater morbidity of treatment and higher costs of care, resulting in avoidable deaths and disability from cancer”, WHO says in its Global Action Plan for the Prevention and Control of NCDs 2013-2020.
Prevention, early detection, and cancer screening are key strategies in the fight against cancer, with the Kenya National Cancer Control Strategy (NCCS) 2017-2022 focusing on these areas.
Prevention programmes can reduce both the incidence of cancer and mortality, with screening for colorectal, breast, and cervical cancer proven to reduce the burden of these common tumours.
