04/02/2014
Cancer: From Biology to Economy
The World Cancer Day was celebrated on the 4th of February. Cancer is one of the several Non-Communicable Diseases plaguing the world at an exponential rate currently. Early diagnosis makes it easy to treat but prevention is key. Prevention, treatment and management can all be achieved positively if we understand the disease inside out in the language that we know best.
John Saxton and Amanda Daley, editors of exercise and cancer survivorship (2010) define cancer as an umbrella term for a group of over 200,000 different diseases, in which cells of the body grow and divide in an uncontrolled way. They go further to state that the uncontrolled cellular growth results in invasion and destruction of neighboring tissues and can metastasize to other sites in the body. Going back to some anatomy, the cell is the basic component in structure and function of the human body. This qualifies that all disease starts from the cell as a result of disruption of balance in the cell. Some examples include red blood cells and white blood cells. Various cells in a cohort to do a common function are termed as tissues. Red blood cells, white blood cells and clotting cells come together to be what is termed as blood tissue. In terms of classification, cancer originates in a tissue. For instance cancer of the blood tissue is leukemia, immune tissue cancer is lymphoma, carcinoma is cancer of the skin tissue and tissue that lines or wraps organs and sarcoma eats into bone tissue, fat, muscle and other connective tissue.
In Mr. Ail’s family of four, he and his wife Mrs. Bill are breadwinners. Mr. Ail has been diagnosed of cancer during one of his regular check-ups as is his norm. His case is a lucky one noting that some of 28,000 kenyans diagnosed of cancer each year in Kenya have their cases diagnosed late for a number of reasons. The ministry of health admits that the public health care system has only 8 trained oncologists. Some of these people are forced to seek treatment abroad. Our economy loses about 7 billion each year to foreign hospitals. Mr. Ail is lucky to be able to seek treatment in one of the public hospitals in the city, thanks to the medical insurance cover extended to him and his family by his employer. He has to juggle with various treatment options that may be proposed in the course of treatment. For instance he has to juggle with the fact that radiotherapy may cost him between 500 and 1000, chemotherapy depends on the drug used and may cost between 6000 and 600000 as well as about 250000 for possible surgery in a cancer situation. These are estimates based on a referral hospital in Kenya’s public health care system.
There is reduction in Mr. Ail’s family income with a possibility of digging deep into family reserves or beyond to find treatment or pay for palliative care. Where this person works, they have to deal with low productivity on the person or incur extra costs of having an extra person to work alongside, take off some responsibilities or replace the person while on treatment. Furthermore, he fears the stigmatization based on mythical ideas that his cancer could be communicable. Other sectors are affected too, including the banking and insurance industry. In 2012, the then president Kibaki signed into law the cancer prevention and control bill which among other things stated that a person would not be forced to do cancer screening to disclose cancer status in order to access credit or insurance or anything related. This in effect means that the banking industry and insurance industry will not discriminate against Mr. Ail’s investment plans. However the banks and insurance firms are somehow exposed to certain costs in the event of the worst.
Cancer is ranked third in mortality cases after infectious disease and cardiovascular diseases. It is not contagious hence classified as a Non-Communicable Disease (NCD) alongside diabetes, hypertension, arthritis and obesity. Over 22,000 Kenyans succumb to cancer each year in Kenya. There is a lack of enough equipment, facilities, personnel and interventions for prevention, treatment and management of cancer. The situation is worsened by the recently introduced customs and excise duty of 1.5% of value of imports, including medicine for cancer, which is charged as railway development levy. Furthermore, the Kenya Medical Supplies Agency buys medicine for all public hospitals except for cancer medicine. The high demand for cancer drugs is likely to shoot the prices off the roof.
Mr. Ail and other people in his predicament will have to grapple with the challenges abound. The government budget on health has been shrinking based on comparative allocations for years 2012/13 and 2013/14.the rest of us will hope that the 50 million to be used by Kenya Medical Association to create awareness for one month dubbed “bila cancer society” will create an impact in our appreciation of early detection and management of the disease. The government will maybe have to move in haste and comb out the ghost workers fleecing us of 1.8 billion which could have been allocated to the health ministry. Alternatively, the Public Service Commission may opt to hope that some of the ghost workers in their current workforce of over 217,069 are among the 28,000 that we lose to cancer each year and wish the problem away. So sad! The youth can see an opportunity. Complementary health and therapy is a cheap way to start an industry that will pay very well and help to prevent and manage the cancer menace. In business circles they call that a social enterprise.
NOTE: The persons named here are fictional characters.
This is a series of five articles:
1. Cancer: Cells Walking Dead in Space Availed
2. Cancer: From Biology to Economy (CURRENT)
3. Cancer: Individual interventions through the lens
4. Cancer: Multi-Sectoral Approaches to Prevention and Management
5. Cancer: Something to Take Home With You
Mr. James Mwabaya Jumah
The writer is a recreation professional. He is a Fitness and Wellness Coach.
He can be reached through jmjumah@yahoo.co.uk and 0735 345 976.
4th February, 2014
