UICC World Cancer Congress 2006

Methods: literature review, WHO and Ministry of health reports, personal experience

Results:Kenya is facing an epidemiological transition characterized by the double burden of communicable and non communicable diseases including cancers. Cancer care initiatives in Kenya like in most Sub-Saharan Africa, take place in the context of poor healthcare funding, inadequate infrastructure, extreme poverty of patients, and minimal educational opportunities in cancer care for health care staff. These factors are largely responsible for cancer patients presenting late, usually with intractable pain. The country has fundamental difficulties in obtaining and distributing drugs due to a myriad of factors including financial, legislative and logistical problems. Morphine and related analgesics do not reach the cancer patients, most of who live in the rural areas. Cancer pain management should be seen as a global public health problem otherwise efforts to address it will not make much impact in the world. There is need for International support in setting up comprehensive Cancer Management programs in resource poor countries of the developing world.