Harboursandport.com: By Joshua Mutisya
One
in five Kenyans will develop cancer during their lifetime, reveals a NationNewsplex review of health
data over the past decade.
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| Cancer |
The risk of getting cancer by age 75 is slightly higher for
women (20 per cent) than men (17 per cent). It is also above the global average
of 18 per cent; indicate figures from the International Agency for Research on
Cancer (IARC) at the World Health Organization (WHO).
“The risk is higher in Kenya than many
countries because of the two main cancers among women. In developed countries,
cervical cancer is not a threat as it has been under control through
well-established screening programmes, early detection and effective treatment.
Other African countries equally have high incidences of these cancers but the
rate is higher in Nairobi,” Ms Anne Korir, head of the National Cancer Registry
at the Kenya Medical Research Institute.
Figures from the UN agency further reveal that one in seven
Kenyans is likely to die of cancer by the time they are a septuagenarian. The
chance of dying from cancer is highest for breast, cervical, oesophageal,
prostate and stomach cancers.
One of every 11 deaths in Kenya is due to cancer. The disease is
the third leading cause of death, exceeded only by pneumonia and malaria,
according to figures from the Kenya National Bureau of Statistics (KNBS).
The most common cancers include breast cancer, with Kenyans
having a five per cent chance of getting it, followed closely by cervical and
prostate (3.7 per cent each), oesophageal (two per cent) and stomach (one per
cent).
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