The ninth annual Forum of African First Ladies against Breast, Cervical and Prostate cancer opened yesterday at the Kenyatta International Conference Center (KICC).

President Uhuru Kenyatta officially opened the 9SCCAforum, which seeks to raise awareness and support interventions for cancer prevention, treatment and control. This year’s focus is on breast, cervical and prostate cancers, which are the major causes of death in Africa today and more than 30 first ladies, have graced the conference.

Last year’s conference was held in Namibia and 18 First Ladies signed the Windhoek Declaration, committing them to stop the spread of cancer in their respective countries through intensified advocacy for adequate human, technical and financial resources.

NHIF TO COVER CANCER TREATMENT

Health CS James Macharia while addressing delegates in the conference today announced that in a month’s time, cancer will be one of the diseases covered by the National Health Insurance Fund (NHIF).

FREE CANCER SCREENING

Since Wednesday last week, there has been free breast, prostate and cervical cancer screening at the KICC COMESA grounds, which is scheduled to go on until 21st July.

85 per cent of cancer cases are reported to be curable if detected early and the first lady has urged Kenyans to take advantage of the free screening.