Govt: Cancer is not a national disaster

President Uhuru will not declare cancer a national disaster. This comes after the Health Cabinet Secretary Sicily Kariuki yesterday issued statement that faulted the public outcry for the hasty declaration of the disease as a national disaster.

The cabinet secretary said there isn’t enough data on cancer to enable such a declaration. She also warned people against being too emotional in their approach towards the disease. Safaricom CEO Bob Collymore and Kibra MP Ken Okoth have fallen to cancer this month. The latest victim of this scourge is Joyce Laboso, who was Governor of Bomet County at the time of her death.

Government data indicates that more than 32,000 people die annually, all thanks to cancer. This makes it the third leading cause of deaths in the country.

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Insufficient data

The Cabinet Secretary insists that only scientific evidence can be used in the declaration of the malady a national disaster.

“For us to be able to reach a point of declaring cancer a national disaster, there has to be sufficient data built overtime that is scientific, solid and sound enough to back our declaration,” she stated.

Until such data is gathered, cancer is not a national disaster. Yet.

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