Uasin Gishu trains healthcare staff in effort to tackle growing cancer burden

Uasin Gishu Governor Jonathan Bii addresses medical staff in Eldoret 

Uasin Gishu has rolled out a capacity-building programme for healthcare workers to strengthen the management of cancer patients.

Governor Jonathan Bii and his deputy, Evans Kapkea, said the county would work with development partners to scale up efforts to address the growing cancer burden.

Bii said cancer had become a major strain on the national healthcare system, highlighting the need for stronger enforcement of policies and strategies to tackle the disease.

The county said it would strengthen international health partnerships to support capacity-building initiatives and review health systems to sharpen the focus on cancer prevention, diagnosis, and management.

As part of the initiative, the county hosted a Swedish delegation led by Peter Berggren for a second engagement on cancer management.

The meeting focused on advancing collaboration in genetic counselling and genomics between Uasin Gishu county and Moi University.

Officials said the forum marked a key step in tapping global expertise to improve early cancer diagnosis, prevention and management in the county.

Kapkea reaffirmed the county government’s commitment to strategic partnerships, stressing the need for strong policy frameworks to support early detection and effective disease management.

“Strong partnerships and clear policy frameworks are critical to ensuring that emerging medical fields such as genomics translate into better health outcomes for our people,” he said.

Promotive and preventive health chief officer Paul Wangwe stressed the importance of identifying cancer risk factors and expanding public awareness on genetic counseling.

He said closer links with primary healthcare facilities were vital to ensure early detection and timely referral of cancer cases.

“Early identification at community and primary care levels remains key to reducing cancer-related illness and deaths,” Wangwe said.

Berggren said the partnership would focus on better communication, awareness and public education on cancer prevention and genetic counseling.

Moi University’s Prof Simeon Mining and Dr Risper Tororei said the engagement reflected the county’s push to position itself as a leader in preventive healthcare, research and innovation through international partnerships.

The delegation also took part in technical sessions covering the Uasin Gishu county health system, the Swedish genetic counselling model and the International Medical Programme, laying the groundwork for future collaboration.

Bii said the county would continue working with health sector partners to ensure residents benefit from modern approaches to tackling cancer.