Homa Bay Governor Gladys Wanga (file). Photo: LuffyDe via Wikimedia Commons (CC0 (Public Domain))
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Cancer advocates rally behind Wanga after backlash.
Cancer advocacy groups have come out in support of Homa Bay Governor Gladys Wanga after she faced online backlash for publicly disclosing her 12-year battle with colorectal cancer at a hospital oncology centre commissioning event.
Wanga said she was diagnosed shortly after being elected as a Member of Parliament and credited former Senator Beth Mugo with helping her through the early shock. "I didn't cry because Senator Beth Mugo told me, it is your mind that will kill you, not the cancer," Wanga recalled.
The Kenya Network of Cancer Organisations (KENCO) defended the governor, saying "cancer is not merely a medical diagnosis; it affects individuals, families, livelihoods and communities." The group used the moment to press national and county governments to make cancer care more affordable.
The scale of the problem
Kenya records an estimated 6,799 new breast cancer cases a year and 3,107 deaths from the disease. The five-year survival rate for metastatic breast cancer stands at just 10.7 percent, while stage 1A cervical cancer, caught and treated early, has a 95 to 98 percent survival rate. KENCO called for "equitable, affordable and comprehensive cancer care" for every Kenyan, a message that resonates in areas like Kibera, where the cost of cancer screening and treatment puts it out of reach for many families.
This story was put together by K N N from material first published by The Star.
That was a Kibra News Network report, read by an A I voice.
Cancer advocacy groups have come out in support of Homa Bay Governor Gladys Wanga after she faced online backlash for publicly disclosing her 12-year battle with colorectal cancer at a hospital oncology centre commissioning event.
Wanga said she was diagnosed shortly after being elected as a Member of Parliament and credited former Senator Beth Mugo with helping her through the early shock. “I didn’t cry because Senator Beth Mugo told me, it is your mind that will kill you, not the cancer,” Wanga recalled.
The Kenya Network of Cancer Organisations (KENCO) defended the governor, saying “cancer is not merely a medical diagnosis; it affects individuals, families, livelihoods and communities.” The group used the moment to press national and county governments to make cancer care more affordable.
The scale of the problem
Kenya records an estimated 6,799 new breast cancer cases a year and 3,107 deaths from the disease. The five-year survival rate for metastatic breast cancer stands at just 10.7 percent, while stage 1A cervical cancer, caught and treated early, has a 95 to 98 percent survival rate. KENCO called for “equitable, affordable and comprehensive cancer care” for every Kenyan, a message that resonates in areas like Kibera, where the cost of cancer screening and treatment puts it out of reach for many families.
KNN Newsroom is the staff byline for stories written, rewritten and edited at the Kibra News Network desk. Where a story credits an outside outlet, the original source is linked at the foot of the piece.
