Prof. Nyon'go You Should Not Whine- Do Something About Cancer Treatment

I have had this post marinating in my mind for a while now. In fact I have been seething for a while. The reason I have been seething with anger is because of one Prof. Peter Anya'ng Nyong'o (herewith referred as PPAN). This state has been going on since the good Professor returned home after his successful treatment in San Francisco. 


When the news of his sickness was broken through his Sunday column in the Standard, I sympathized with the good Professor, first as a fellow human being, next as a fellow man (in the over-40 years bracket and a likely candidate of prostrate cancer), thirdly based on the 6 degrees of separation theory, I know his wife from my professional fraternity for which she held leadership positions and always delivered hubby when we needed a senior government minister to grace our functions and give them some semblance of stately seriousness! Finally, I  like Prof. Peter Anya'ng Nyong'o  as one of the sober politician we have and who can take the debate from the gutters to intellectual levels if and when he is not defending his party.


So back to my seething, I have nothing against his return or his healing at all. What I have a problem is the statements he made after his return. He got a lot of press and even some ripple-effect coverage on status of cancer treatment and facilities in Kenya followed in his wake. 


Whereas as a recovering patient, he had every right to celebrate overcoming cancer, I begrudge the fact that he mixed his different roles in the process. As a leader, as a highly educated opinion leader in our society, as an MP sitting in parliament and with powers to make private or state-sponsored and appropriate legislation and as a Minister in-charge of Medical Services, in my humble opinion, I think he made some very unfortunate statements. He came out badly due to his fascination with facilities in Western World, he made unsavory statements about the qualifications of Kenyan Doctors. Was it the doctors in San Francisco who diagnosed his disease or the same Kenyan doctors he went all over the media giving a bad name? 


I do not mind a mwananchi who gets a raw deal in local hospitals using the media to get attention and creating awareness or whining; but the Minister in charge of all doctors? The man we have entrusted to change policy and its implementation thereafter? Talking to us like he expects someone else to come around and change things? He had the audacity of getting verbose about the state-of-art equipment available in the US. He event further and said that there are possibilities of the manufacturers of such equipment leasing them to government.  Of course in between he brought other issues like the proposed universal medical insurance for all citizens. 


Sample a quote below of the Minister in one of the media interviews and tell me if this is not the all-familiar whining we all hear from the hoi polloi saying, "naiomba serikali...."; 

"The Government should make it a mandatory health requirement for men over 45 to have their PSA levels tested regularly so that the disease can be caught early.

Second, we require nurses, clinical officers and urologists who can diagnose prostate cancer and advise on proper treatment. Proper diagnostic equipment is also a must.

At the moment, these are extremely few, and very often diagnosing prostate cancer is done mainly at our national referral facilities, provincial government hospitals and private hospitals."

I will be forever upset with PPAN if out of his personal experience, he does not act and make some tangible changes during his tenure in Afya House and as an MP. I think PPAN should play some major part in replicating a smaller version of Mount Zion Medical Centre here in Kenya. After all if the Minister, a cancer survivor, a senior member of the society cannot do it, who will?


 Professor, I am watching you. Do not let me down.