Cancer cases are rising worldwide, with health experts warning that millions of new diagnoses each year are placing growing pressure on health systems, highlighting the urgent need for better prevention and treatment.
Kenya’s ‘Empower’ journey attests to the fact that with innovation and digitalisation, African countries can fight cancer and other diseases that plague the continent.
Countries in the continent must, therefore, embrace technology in fighting diseases on the continent.
Kenya has a high burden of cancer diagnoses, according to its National Cancer Institute; however, a digital health platform, known as Empower, is helping to change that narrative by improving early detection, tracking patients through the healthcare system, and linking them to timely treatment across the country.
Under this platform, cancer screening has been integrated into the healthcare service, therefore, patients that attend clinics for any ailment can be voluntarily screened for cancer for free as long as they are registered on the country’s social health insurance.
Under this platform, women who attend antenatal and post-natal clinics are screened for cervical and breast cancer, while men who accompany the women to clinics are also educated about cancer and screened.
Any other person can also walk into any health facility to be screened for cancer free of charge.
All those diagnosed with cancer are then linked to existing cancer care delivery systems and continuous support is offered to them.
Launched in 2019, the Empower platform is a partnership involving Roche Africa, County First Ladies Association, the Ministry of Health of Kenya and the National Cancer Institute of Kenya. To date, it has screened over 235,000 women.
Kenya’s National Cancer Institute has officially adopted the platform as the national digital backbone for cancer care.
This means that if someone is screened for cancer anywhere in Kenya, their data is instantly visible to doctors across the country, who can track the patient’s journey in real time to ensure they don’t wait months for a diagnosis.
Participants attending this year’s Africa Press Day, organised by Roche Africa, visited Mbagathi District Hospital, Nairobi, which has one of the Empower Clinics, to learn more about the platform.
Empower clinics
A Nursing Officer, who is also in charge of the Maternal and Child Health clinic of the hospital, Abigail Owila, said all eligible women who visited the clinic for other services were screened for cervical and breast cancer provided they consented to it.
She said they use different screening methods for women aged 25 to 49 and those over 50. She mentioned the screening methods they use: visual inspection with acetic acid, Pap smear, and HPV DNA testing.
On Average, she said they screen between five to 10 women each day.
She said that when tests are positive, they treat cases at the facility; for those they cannot treat, they refer them.
Through the digital system associated with the platform, they follow up on the clients at every stage of the diagnosis and treatment.
Kenya is an East African country facing a growing cancer crisis.
According to the Head of Strategy, Planning, Partnerships and Resource Mobilisation of
Kenya’s National Cancer Institute, Dr Emily Barsito, Kenya has a cancer incidence of 44,726.
This, translated to days, means every day, 122 people are diagnosed with cancer and in hours, five people are diagnosed with cancer every hour.
The mortality for cancer in the country, according to Dr Barsito, is 29,376 and translated to days, it is 80 people dying every day from cancer.
Sadly, she said most of the cancer diagnoses in the country were late-stage disease, that is, stages three and four, when, according to her, there were limited options of intervention and poor health outcomes were associated with them.
“If we only could catch these diseases at stage zero, that is pre-cancerous or stage one, early stage, then we will have more options of intervention that are associated with better health outcomes, ” she said.
She mentioned the prominent cancer recorded in the country to be breast, cervical, prostate, oesophagus, and colorectal cancer.
These revelations were made in a round-table discussion on the Empower platform as part of the trip to the Mbagathi District Hospital.
The other panellists were the County Executive Committee Member of Health, Suzanne Silantoi; the Managing Trustee at the Africa Cancer Foundation and First Lady of Kisumu County, Dorothy Nyong’o ; the Chief Executive Officer of Savannah Global Health Institute, Dr Matiko Riro; the General Manager for East Africa, Roche, Kenya, Jacqueline Wambua and the Director of Medical Services, Nairobi County, Dr Moses Owino.
She said that, with Empower now linked to the National Cancer Registry, they were able to see screening and diagnosis in real time, adding that they were working hard to ensure that the Empower Clinics were rolled out in all health facilities across the 47 counties of the country.
Early diagnosis
Ms Nyong’o said as a foundation, they believed that if women were diagnosed early for cancer, and hopefully navigated through the system, they would get appropriate treatment that would cost less than if they were diagnosed late.
“She will recover well, return to her family and continue with her work and business, and her family will thrive, communities will thrive and economies will thrive,” she said.
She said the innovation in cancer care brought by Empower was significant, and she hoped it could be rolled out nationwide.
Ms Silantoi, for her part, said her county had integrated cancer screening across all health facilities, including community health services, so there was screening at each level of the health system.
Aside from that, she said they had invested in the right infrastructure required for cancer screening and also digitalising all their facilities, adding that currently, 99 of their 124 facilities had been digitalised.
Dr Riro said it was not enough to catch people earlier with cancer; rather, they should be helped to access care within a short time, stressing the need for the use of digital tools to help patients navigate quickly through the journey.
Ms Wambua said Roche provides innovation both from diagnostics and treatment and it was as a result of that they chose to do things differently.
She said they realised that the pathway to seeking cancer care was fragmented, explaining that the challenge started from the community and by the time the patients leave their home to get care, they had seen about eight to 10 healthcare providers before they actually get a diagnosis.
“Roche cannot solve the whole challenge for these patients.
That is why we thought the best way is to come in partnerships,” she said.
Source:
www.graphic.com.gh