NHIF to cater for cancer patients full treatment

Good news for cancer patients if National Hospital Insurance Fund (NHIF) plan to cater for full treatment of the disease goes through.

Under the current plan, NHIF only covers some prescriptions and approximately 20 radiotherapy sessions leaving the patients to cover the rest of the treatment. This has led to many patients defaulting on treatment since they cannot afford to pay for the remaining services.

The new plan will aim at covering chemotherapy and radiotherapy as well.

NHIF`s Claims and Benefits Manager, Judith Otele has confirmed this saying, “We have witnessed such cases, and it has had a big impact on our clients. This is why we are looking into a cancer care plan and not just covering treatment cycles like we do now.”

The new proposal has been tabled at the Ministry of Health. Once approved, it will help deal with cases of people defaulting treatment and consequently reduce the number of people dying from cancer each year.

According to the Ministry of Health, 33,000 Kenyans die every year from cancer, with 48, 000 being diagnosed with it every year.