A consultant at Eldoret Hospital has named late diagnosis of cancer as the main reason it is hard and costly to treat the disease that is ranked among the leading killer across the country.
Dr Bharath Vyas Marla, a consultant in internal medicine at Eldoret Hospital says most cancers are treated and curable when diagnosed at an early stage.
“Many patients usually visit the hospital when the disease is at an advanced stage such as stage four and nothing much can be done to save the situation, therefore treating the disease is very costly,” said Dr Marla who also pointed out that the disease quickly spreads to other parts of the body making it costly, hard and painful to treat.
Speaking in Eldoret town on Tuesday, Dr Marla challenged the government to take the initiative of recruiting enthusiastic people to educate Kenyans on causes, symptoms and importance of going for regular screening.
Among the common types of cancer according to the consultant is prostate which mostly affects the elderly and lung cancer in men.
Cervix cancer in women, he says is commonly caused by multiple sexual partners.
“It is sad that patients come as far as from Zaire, Congo and Zimbabwe to get tested while Kenyans only wait until the condition is critical, for them to show up in hospital,” lamented Dr Marla.
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