The new cancer centre at the Coast Provincial Hospital. [Photo/ the-star.co.ke]
Cancer patients in the Coast region will no longer have to travel to Nairobi to seek treatment after the Coast General Hospital opened the biggest cancer centre in Mombasa.The centre has the capacity to attend to three million patients a year.Iqbal Khadwallah, the chief administrator noted the facility will ease congestion and improve treatment as it will serve cancer patients in Mombasa and other neighbouring counties.Speaking during the launch on Thursday, Khadwallah further disclosed that the number of cancer patients treated at the hospital every month had increased from 1,200 to 3,000."We get 80 to 100 new patients every month," said Khadwallah.The Coast General Hospital did not have a radiotherapy unit, forcing patients to travel to Kenyatta National Hospital in Nairobi.Shadrack Ingo, a cancer survivor, lauded the launch but raised concerns over the price of medicine, saying it was too expensive for patients."The medicines are too expensive. They should either be accessed for free or be made affordable," said Ingo, as quoted by The Star.