A total of thirteen politicians from Kenya-9 MPs and 4 Senators have been seeking for cancer treatment in Indian hospitals, one of them who has successfully undergone brain cancer treatment says.
Juja MP Francis Munyua Waititu popularly known as Wakapee returned to the country on Friday from India where he has been for the last seven weeks undergoing treatment, reports the Star.
Though their identity has been concealed the politicians are reportedly said to be booked at Apollo Hospital outlets in New Delhi and other cities in the country.
The MP said while in India, he interacted with senior Kenyan government officials and well-known businessmen being treated for cancer in India.
He said most of them have refused to get treated in Kenya because of stigmatization.
“So many people are suffering in silence from cancer. Nobody wants to talk about it because of the stigma behind it,” said the MP according to the Star.
“In India, I met hundreds of cancer patients from Kenya alone. Among them were nine of my fellow MPs and four Senators. The cancer scourge is enormous and we can no longer afford to bury our heads in the sand. We must get out and talk about it,” he added.
He painted a grim picture of how Kenyans who have taken their families to India for treatment spend their nights in the streets after running out of money.
Those people you have been helping in fundraising to go for further treatment in India cannot find anywhere to lay down their heads . . . they are sleeping in trenches because they cannot afford renting the expensive houses in India,” he said.
Waititu noted that for his housing facilities, he used Sh1.8 million. “I personally spent Sh1.8 million on housing alone for the period I was there. How many Kenyans can afford that?”
According to data by the Ministry of Health, Approximately 10,000 Kenyans travel abroad every year in search of treatment. They spend an estimated Sh10 billion.
The Kenya National Bureau of Statistics in a report said that about 40,000 Kenyans are diagnosed with cancer annually, and the disease kills about 15,000 people every year.
Kenyan Network of Cancer Organizations chairman Dr David Makumi said 75 per cent of Kenyan cancer patients seeking for treatment can be treated for less in Kenya.
But Waititu said from his interactions with cancer patients in India, they said deplorable conditions and long wait at Kenyatta National Hospital has discouraged them.
Waititu said a well-wisher has donated a 50-acre piece of land near Mang’u High School where a cancer centre will be built.
The facility will be a partnership between the national government, the county government of Kiambu and Indian doctors and private business personalities.
“I am happy to announce that someone has donated a piece of land along the Thika Superhighway that will be used to put up the facility. The President has promised to accord us with all the necessary support. The Indian Prime Minister has also promised to provide us with doctors too,” he remarked.
The Juja legislator asked his colleagues suffering from cancer to speak about it to end stigmatization.
“If they could have come out openly like myself, a solution would have been realised so far.”