Stigma, poverty impede cancer treatment in Kenya
Published on: Friday 10 February 2023
STORY: Like many people in Kenya, Sperenza Maina didn’t believe it when she was diagnosed with breast cancer about five years ago."I was in denial, I didn't tell anybody. I just kept quiet…”That meant the librarian delayed important treatment.But the worst part, she says - was the crippling financial burden.Each round of chemotherapy costs $280.... more than a month and a half of an average salary in the East African country.Maina had to borrow money.People started avoiding her calls.“But anyway, there are those who have been there for me and I just thank them." // “I believe; people in Kenya don't die because they have cancer, they die because they don't have money for medication."As is the case in much of Africa, most cancer cases in Kenya are diagnosed at an advanced stage.That means treatment options are limited and families make huge financial sacrifices…. according to a World Bank report.It said less than 20% of Kenya’s 53 million people are enrolled in the national health insurance scheme… meaning healthcare costs push more than a million of them into poverty each year.And as the country gets wealthier overall, cancer diagnoses are on the rise.The annual incidence increased by almost a third between 2012 and 2018, according to health ministry data.Improved life expectancy, and increasing risky behaviors like unhealthy diet, lack of exercise, alcohol abuse and smoking contribute to the problem, according to the ministry.But stigma makes it all worse.Dr. Bridgette Nyabuto at Nairobi’s radiotherapy and cancer center says women are afraid to get a diagnosis for common cancers such as cervical and breast.“There is a lot of stigma associated with cancer of the cervix. We have to factor in that a lot of our cultural backgrounds find any topic to do with sex, the female reproductive system, a bit taboo. So what tends to happen, a lot of these women have early symptoms of the disease but fear coming out to have them attended to."As for Maina, even though her cancer has come back, she said she’s feeling more hopeful after overcoming her fears and financial woes.“I know that having cancer is not a death sentence. You have to live to tell the story”
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