SPEECH BY H. E.

MARGARET KENYATTA, THE FIRST LADY

OF THE REPUBLIC OF KENYA DURING THE 9TH STOP
CERVICAL, BREAST AND PROSTATE CANCER IN AFRICA
(SCCA) CONFERENCE PARTNERS BREAKFAST AT VILLA
ROSA KEMPINSKI HOTEL, NAIROBI.
Distinguished Guests,
Ladies and Gentlemen,
Good Morning,
It gives me great pleasure to be in such an important gathering, where
we chart the way forward in the fight against cancer in Africa.
My office with the support of the Government of the Republic of Kenya
and in conjunction with Princess Nikky Breast Cancer Foundation will
host the 9th Stop Cervical Breast and Prostate Cancer in
Africa Conference (SCCA) at the KICC, Nairobi whose theme will
be "Investing to save lives: The Role of Public-Private Sector
Partnerships".
The Conference will bring together First Ladies, Parliamentarians,
Ministers of Health, Health Professionals, Scientists, Advocates against
cancer, Corporate entities and other relevant stakeholders.
Let us talk about CANCER. In Kenya, cancer ranks third as a cause
of death, after infectious and cardiovascular diseases. It affects men,
women and children alike.
We are losing 60 Kenyans per day to various versions of the disease
nearly 3 people each hour. These figures need to shock us and more
importantly, they need to serve as a wake up call to each one of us no
one is safe from the disease.
CANCERS are killing more people globally than HIV, TB and Malaria
combined.
A key challenge in fighting the disease is late diagnosis; over 70% of
the cases are detected in their far too late making management and
recovery almost impossible. Lack of awareness among our people,
inadequate health facilities where diagnosis and treatment can take
place and the high cost of treatment are all prohibitive factors.
The 9th (SCCA) conference creates a platform where stakeholders from

various sectors can come together and share experiences in the fight
against CANCER.
As the host nation of this Conference, we must show our commitment to
fighting cancer, a disease that is both a crippling and wasteful affliction
that slowly kills its victims. Cancer is a burden on family resources and
the nations healthcare infrastructure.
Cancer does not discriminate and has therefore affected us all in one
way or the other. Through our kin, friends and countrymen, cancer has
dealt us all a heavy blow. The young and old are all fair game in
its sights and gender is not a factor in its ruthless wake.
My fellow Kenyans,
As a part of the global family, we must make hard decisions and say,
enough is enough.
We must collectively fight this monster head on. We must do so through
a combination of lifestyle changes and other interventions aimed at
driving progress in cancer research.
This illness has had a heavy toll on our society and this largely due to
dietary and environmental causes according to available medical data.
We have strayed from sound dietary regimes in which we consumed
whole, nutritious and balanced foods in the past and have now made
unwholesome and unhealthy foods a mainstay of our diets.
Dear Kenyans,
We must now return back to our roots and re-introduce into our diets
healthy foods such as sweet-potatoes, arrow-roots, yams,
cassava and boiled foods.
We also need to keep our bodies moving with moderate to heavy
exercise. We must stay vigilant through regular check-ups.
Fellow Kenyans,
The national government recently purchased a large amount of medical
equipment that will be very helpful in the fight against cancer.
Our people will greatly benefit when the equipment is fully deployed in
our counties as it will ease the congestion at the few
referral facilities that have these lifesaving equipment.

I would like to take this opportunity to invite you to the 9th SCCA
conference scheduled from 19th to 21st July at the Kenyatta
International Convention Center (KICC) in Nairobi.
It is crucial that we, as a continent, do all that we can to beat cancer
before it becomes overwhelmingly unmanageable.
We anticipate that the 9th SCCA conference will contribute to
strengthened collaborations in the fight against cancer and lead to
better partnerships in cancer control for better health outcomes.
It is now my pleasure to invite all stakeholders and partners to
contribute generously towards support of the 9th SCCA conference.
I THANK YOU.