Artificial breasts being given to cancer breast cancer survivors. Photo/standardmedia.co.ke
Breast cancer survivors who have undergone mastectomy want a tax waiver on artificial breasts to enable them to access the prosthesis cheaply.
Speaking at Embu Teaching and Referral Hospital where Mercy Step Foundation donated artificial breasts to survivors, palliative care nurse Niceta Njagi asked the government to waive taxes on the prosthesis.
A single artificial breast costs at least Sh30,000.
Caroline Munyi, a cancer survivor, said the prosthesis have given her a new lease of life.
“Now at least people will not stare at me,” she said.
Njeru Kavuri whose wife benefited from the new breasts applauded the gesture saying, "My wife can now look good in clothes.”
Bearing the cost implications of treating cancer and the poverty level of most people, offering the artificial breasts at a low cost through tax waiver will be a relief to many who will then carry on their activities looking normal.
In medicine, a prosthesis is an artificial device that replaces a missing body part, which may be lost through trauma, disease, or congenital conditions. A person's prosthesis should be designed and assembled according to the patient's appearance and functional needs. The device is fitted by a prosthetist.