Medical practitioners, leaders, and other key stakeholders in Meru are pleading with the government to conduct thorough research to establish the cause of high cancer prevalence in the county.

St Teresa Kiirua Hospital CEO Sister Mary Agnes Nkatha said many patients were diagnosed at the hospital whilst on the fourth stage of the disease, making it impossible to treat and cure it save for management.

Nkatha, who spoke after more than 14 kilometres walk to create awareness and raise funds to cater for those diagnosed with the disease, lamented over ravages and deaths caused by the disease.

She said the walk and launch of Hope Against Cancer Initiative aims to raise a Sh25 million.

"We are towards finding partnerships to conduct a thorough research for a holistic approach… not to treat what we do not know the cause. We are bridging the gap and standing to curb more deaths from the disease," Sister Nkatha said.

She said cancer treatment is a very costly affair.

She mentioned Kargi of Marsabit County and Kiegoi village in Meru county as villages with scaring numbers of patients diagnosed with cancer.

"We have been losing many patients in our Wards. Most of the patients are those diagnosed with cancer, the reason we asked ourselves on what we can do differently to cater for the sick. Most patients were coming to the hospital in the last stage of cancer," she said.

Kiirua Hospital board members and management envisioned to start a robust programme of screening so that people can be cancer survivors when diagnosed and treatment begins at an early stage of the disease.

Sister Nkatha said it is worrying to see when a patient starts treatment and somewhere along the way, the Social Health Assurance--SHA--card is exhausted.

Some patients lack even fare to reach the hospital or do not even have money for a good diet.

She said around 700 patients had been diagnosed with cancer at their facility since 2022.

"We started community screening. We want to do a robust screening. We aim to strengthen the social and psychological department to sensitise and advise patients affected or infected with the disease. Out of the burden of cancer deaths, we said we won't wait any more but plan to change the situation through our strategic plan," she said.

ABSA Bank Meru Branch Manager Caroline Mugambi said their corporate purpose is to empower the community to achieve a better tomorrow.

"We are here to start the initiative being part of transformative medical camps. We are doing resources mobilisation to write new stories to enable sustainable positive impact. Cancer is a menace and it is on a high prevalence in the county. We are either affected or infected and call upon other partners to work together to fight the disease," Ms Mugambi said.

They donated Sh500,000.

She added that the only way to make a change is involvement of all organisations to take part in creating awareness on screening for earlier treatment.

Former Buuri MP and Kiirua board member Gatobu Kinoti said it is worrying to see the huge number of patients who suffer at their homes because they cannot afford to raise funds for cancer treatment.

"The walk is to raise funds because cancer is a big problem not only in Meru. If only in two(2) years, Kiirua Hospital has handled over 700 patients, what about those who suffer at home? Once diagnosed at early stages, it is curable. The hospital has already set aside Sh5 million for this noble cause and this will be a game changer in our communities. It will be an annual walk," Mr Kinoti said.