October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month and towards this, the M-Pesa Foundation will host four specialized medical camps focusing on cancer screening and healthcare for breast, prostate, cervical, and colon cancer. The first of these camps was held at Uhuru Gardens Primary School in Lang’ata on Saturday. My colleagues and I were happy to attend it and to witness the transformation of lives that comes with the camps. This particular one impacted upwards of 3,000 people. The next three will be in Taita Taveta, Homa Bay, and Murang’a Counties.
“In line with our commitment to supporting health, this month, our medical camps will significantly highlight cancer. We aim to promote early screening and detection so that patients can get the treatment they need, with a focus on supporting underserved communities to access these services,” said Patricia Ithau, Trustee, M-Pesa Foundation.
To capture the magnitude of having free medical services at people’s doorsteps, we met and interacted with several patients who were there for assorted problems.
One case that stood out was that of Paul Kagiri, a Dandora-based father of four who has been battling rectal cancer for several years now. The avid photographer has had quite a journey from hospital to hospital, but he currently has his chemotherapy prescriptions done at Kenyatta and infusions at Texas Cancer Center. He is already experiencing the side effects of chemotherapy like hair loss, numbness, and discoloration of extremities.
Cancer is a very expensive ailment and unfortunately, it has robbed Kagiri of his livelihood as a photographer. Since a of time he is either away in one hospital or other or too weak to work, he was forced to close his once-thriving photo studio and he now has to live on handouts sometimes. In a double tragedy for his family, his wife is also in the advanced stages of kidney disease, and she goes for dialysis two times a week.
In all this, Kagiri is thankful for partners like M-Pesa Foundation for free services and is hopeful that his visit to the medical camp will bear fruit. His request to M-Pesa Foundation is for help in paying for a rectal colon medical test which will inform his next cause of treatment since the cancer has since spread to his lymph nodes and lungs. The test costs Ksh.130,000/- and he simply cannot afford it.
Kagiri is in luck because to ensure proper aftercare, M-Pesa Foundation will provide free one-year medical cover for up to 20 patients diagnosed with cancer at each camp.
We also met and spoke to Kerubo Onyeke, a data analyst at Safaricom and a breast cancer survivor. In her case, the lump in her breast was discovered by her daughter in 2017, and what followed was two months of extensive tests until a full diagnosis of stage 3A was made. Kerubo is lucky because the Safaricom medical is very comprehensive and she was able to do all her treatments and follow-ups locally. Her cancer is now in remission though she will be under management medication for the next ten years.
Her advice to everyone is to get screened early since this ensures less invasive treatment and less radiotherapy. Take advantage of free camps such as M-Pesa Foundation medical camps since if anything is discovered early enough, many local hospitals are offering specialized treatment and management.
Since 2023, M-Pesa Foundation medical camps have screened over 3,500 patients and 300 patients have been referred for further testing after suspected cases of breast, cervical, and prostate cancer.
Through the camps, the foundation will provide free diagnostic services such as CEA tests for colon cancer, mammograms and ultrasounds for breast cancer, pap smears and HPV vaccines for cervical cancer, and PSA tests for prostrate cancer.
Since 2023, M-Pesa Foundation medical camps have screened over 3,500 patients and 300 patients have been referred for further testing after suspected cases of breast, cervical and prostate cancer.
