Dr Catherine Nyongesa Applauds Strengthened Global Collaboration in Kenya’s Cancer Response

By John Kariuki

Texas Cancer Center founder and Managing Director Dr Catherine Nyongesa has welcomed the government’s intensified partnership with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) in the fight against cancer, calling it a timely and transformative intervention for Kenya’s overstretched oncology sector.

This comes after a high-level bilateral meeting between the IAEA Director General Rafael Mariano Grossi and Kenya’s top health officials at Afya House, aimed at scaling up cancer treatment and prevention efforts. The discussions underscored the urgent need to address Kenya’s rising cancer burden, with over 44,000 new cases and 28,500 deaths reported annually  figures projected to double by 2040 if left unchecked.

Dr Nyongesa, one of the country’s most respected oncologists, hailed the collaboration as a powerful step forward in reducing inequality in access to care. “Strengthening our diagnostic and treatment capacity through partnerships like this one is how we move the needle. It means more lives saved, more families restored, and more hope for communities that have long suffered in silence,” she said.

At the heart of Kenya’s response is the National Cancer Control Strategy 2023–2028, underpinned by the work of the National Cancer Institute of Kenya (NCI-K), and bolstered by technical and equipment support from the IAEA. Through its flagship Rays of Hope initiative, the IAEA has already donated two LINAC radiotherapy machines, now operational in Nakuru and Eldoret. A third machine is expected to be commissioned soon in Mombasa, significantly reducing patient waiting times from up to six months to under one month.

During the bilateral talks, Kenya appealed for two additional LINACs for counties with especially high cancer incidence, and welcomed further IAEA backing in early screening, imaging, digitizing cancer registries, and strengthening nuclear medicine.

Present at the meeting were Principal Secretaries Mary Muthoni (Public Health) and Dr Abraham Korir Sing’oei (Foreign Affairs), along with Health Director General Dr Patrick Amoth and other senior Ministry officials.

For Dr Nyongesa, whose cancer centre continues to serve thousands of patients annually, the renewed government-IAEA cooperation represents a beacon of hope. “This is what strategic leadership looks like,” she said. “With sustained investment, we will not only treat cancer  we will beat it.”