M-Pesa Foundation and Zuri Health Roll Out Nationwide Cancer Screening Camps in Kenya

Posted on : Monday , 11th November 2024

In celebration of Breast Cancer Awareness Month, the M-Pesa Foundation and Zuri Health will hold four specialized medical camps with an emphasis on screening for and offering treatment for breast, prostate, cervical, and colon cancer.

KES 36 million has been allocated to these camps by the M-Pesa Foundation. Future camps will take place in Taita Taveta, Homa Bay, and Murang'a Counties. The inaugural camp was hosted at Uhuru Gardens Primary School in Langata, Nairobi.

This month, our medical camps will focus heavily on cancer as part of our dedication to promoting health. With an emphasis on assisting underprivileged areas in accessing these services, our goal is to advance early screening and detection so that patients can receive the necessary treatment.
Patricia Ithau, M-Pesa Foundation Trustee
 

The organization will offer free diagnostic services through the camps, including PSA testing for prostate cancer, pap smears and HPV vaccines for cervical cancer, mammograms and ultrasounds for breast cancer, and CEA tests for colon cancer.

While videoconferencing will be used to allow patients to meet with oncologists, the camps will also provide nutritional and psychosocial assistance for those who have been diagnosed with or are at risk of developing cancer.
 

Up to 20 cancer patients at each camp will receive free one-year medical coverage from the charity to guarantee appropriate aftercare.

Apart from cancer screening, the camps also provide a range of medical services, such as consultations for eye care, fistula screening, consultations with general doctors, diabetes screening, hypertension monitoring, and health consultations for children and the elderly.

More than 3,000 people were treated during the first specialist medical camp, which took place in Nairobi County at Uhuru Gardens Primary School in Langata. It was the 25th camp the Foundation has hosted since May 2023, when it began a nationwide medical camp series in collaboration with Zuri Health and Lion SightFirst Eye Hospital.

Since 2023, M-Pesa Foundation medical camps have evaluated over 3,500 patients, and 300 of those patients have been recommended for further testing after developing suspicions of breast, cervical, and prostate cancer.