Governor Nyong’o Pokes Holes at President Uhuru’s Plan for Dealing with Cancer Menace

Kisumu Governor Anyang’ Nyong’o has poked holes at the government’s plan to set up cancer centers across the country.

Reacting to President Kenyatta’s announcement on Friday that his administration plans to build additional chemotherapy and radiology centers in different regions of the country, Governor Nyong’o termed the move as an exercise in futility.

“We seem to be laying a lot of emphasis on building cancer centers ….what is important about cancer is getting people who are specialized in the different types of cancer,” said Nyongo.

“We have a long way to go….we can build cancer centers but without specialists, we will not know how to run the equipment,” he added.

Nyong’o, who battled with prostate cancer in the past, said research, education, and specialization is the way to go.

Nyong’o, who spoke during the funeral service of the late Bomet Governor Dr. Joyce Laboso, said the country must develop human resources first if it is to deal with cancer menace. 

Laboso succumbed to colon cancer at Nairobi Hospital, a few weeks after she returned from a medical trip in the United Kingdom and India.

“She (Laboso) was in remission, most of us are in remission, we just don’t say it,” said Nyongo.

He said that building cancer centers is important but they will be useless unless the country has trained specialists and functional research centers.

Nyong’o was diagnosed with prostate cancer in 2010 and received treatment at the University of California San Francisco Zion Medical Centre in the United States.